Card Basket
by Mossnose
Summary: This is a story that puts YuGiOh characters in the roles of Fruits Basket characters. I've now gotten all of the characters that I need!
1. Cast List

A/N: I just can't seem to get this idea out of my head. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Fruits Basket.

**Card Basket**

_Cast_

Tohru Honda – Serenity Wheeler. I may not be a fan of Silentshipping (Serenity/Kaiba), but I don't hate it as much as I hate Azureshipping (Tea/Kaiba).

Yuki Sohma – Yugi Mutou. They're both nice guys and sometimes they have trouble with fangirls.

Kyo Sohma – Seto Kaiba. Both have attitude problems and an obsession with defeating their opponents. Need I say more?

Shigure Sohma – Solomon Mutou. See Episode 1 of Season 0 to find out why.

Kagura Sohma – Vivian Wong. They're both obsessive and possessive.

Momiji Sohma – Mokuba Kaiba. They're both young and have had moments of great sorrow in their lives.

Hatori Sohma – Ryou Bakura. He's had a girl attracted to him before and they're both pretty calm.

Hatsuharu Sohma – Tristan Taylor. They're both nice guys, and they can be dangerous when they're angry.

Ayame Sohma – Maximillion Pegasus. Sometimes Pegasus is called a snake, right? Also, they're both very effeminate and have done terrible things in the past.

Kisa Sohma – Kisara. Their names sound the same and they've both been abused because of how they look; girls made fun of Kisa's hair and eye colour, and Kisara had rocks thrown at her and was called a witch because of hers.

Hiro Sohma – Seth. Seth's in love with Kisara. Hiro's in love with Kisa. Also, they both have some attitude.

Ritsu Sohma – Malik Ishtar. They both have girly hair and have had to put up with bad parenting.

Kazuma Sohma – Not sure. Any ideas?

Akito Sohma – Atem. They are both in positions of great power and can be a bit harsh sometimes.

Arisa Uotani – Mai Valentine. They're both tough girls. Need I say more?

Saki Hanajima – Ishizu Ishtar. They're both psychic.

Motoko Minagawa – Rebecca Hawkins. She's obsessed with Yugi.

Prince Yuki Fan Club Vice President – Katsu (OC) I needed someone to fill this spot.

Prince Yuki Fan Club Girl #1 – Supatto (OC) See above.

Prince Yuki Fan Club Girl #2 – Toge (OC) See above.

Megumi Hanajima – Odion Ishtar. He's related to Ishizu, and that's good enough for me.

Mii – Spidey (Fellow authoress). Sorry Spidey! I just couldn't resist!

Please give me some more character suggestions for this! I'll post the first chapter as soon as I get enough suggestions.


	2. The Strangest Day

A/N: I have all of the characters that I currently need, so I'll start with the first episode. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

**Card Basket**

_Episode 1 – The Strangest Day_

On a particularly beautiful day, a young girl looked up with a smile on her face. She had long, light-brown hair and pretty brown eyes. She was currently wearing a pink school uniform with a blue skirt, and laughed slightly as she looked at the sky.

"Look at that beautiful sky!" she said to herself. It was bright and sunny out, and here were only a few small clouds moving across it. She then opened the tent next to her and faced a small picture frame. The picture was of a brown-haired woman with her hair in two bunches. She was smiling, and the girl smiled back.

"See you later, mom! Take care of the house while I'm gone, okay?" she said as she closed the tent.

"I'll be back!" she added as she left, a warm smile always present on her face.

_Hello! My name is Serenity Wheeler._

Serenity walked through the woods slowly, taking in all the sights around her.

_I haven't always lived in a tent. Up until last May I lived with my mom. It was just the two of us. But then the accident…After I lost mom, I began secretly living here on my own._

She walked across a fallen log that crossed over a small river.

_It's not exactly comfortable, but it's alright. And it's what I have to do. Like my motto says; never give up!_

She laughed as she broke into a slow jog through the woods. Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was a small house right in the middle of the woods. How had she never noticed it before?

"Look at this, mom. Did you know there was a house here?" Curiously she went to take a closer look. It was old-fashioned, with sliding screen doors and a small wooden porch.

"Seems so peaceful. Must be nice," she mumbled. Something else on the porch caught her eye. There were twelve painted stones sitting out there.

"Oh, how cute! The twelve animals of the zodiac!" she said with a smile.

"My word," she heard someone say. She looked up, noticing someone else was here. It was a short, elderly man with violet eyes. He was wearing a black bandana in his grey hair and was reading a newspaper.

"Do my old eyes deceive me or is there a young girl standing on my porch?" he asked. Serenity backed up, startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I was just looking! I didn't mean to barge in without permission!" she apologized quickly.

The man laughed a bit. "It's alright. I just set them out to dry; no harm done. But I find it hard to believe that these silly little things could attract your interest."

"No, I really like them. I don't think they're silly at all."

"Yes, well, I must admit I'm particularly fond of them myself," he replied.

"Oh, but I should have known," she said with a sigh, "You left out the cat."

"The cat? Ah, I take it you're referring to the old folktale of the Chinese Zodiac."

"Yep. My mom told it to me when I was little," Serenity explained.

_Serenity was lying in bed, her mother right next to her. She was about 6, and her eyes were wide with wonder as she heard the story her mother had to tell._

"_A long, long time ago, God decided to invite all of the animals to a banquet. He sent out word for all of them to come to his house the following evening, and don't be late, he said! When the mischievous rat heard the news, he decided to play a trick on his neighbor, the cat. He told the cat the party was the day _after _tomorrow. The very next day, all of the animals lined up for the celebration, and the rat led the way riding all the way there on the back of the cow! Everyone had a wonderful time, except for the foolish cat, who missed the whole thing."_

_Serenity had tears welling in her eyes after the story was done. Her mother noticed this._

"_Hey, why are you crying?" she asked gently._

"_Because… that poor cat… he must be so lonely. I know! I won't be a dog anymore; I'll be a cat, too!"_

"Funny. I wonder what he'll say when he hears he has a fan," the man mumbled. Serenity looked at him, confused.

"He?" she asked.

"You were born in the Year of the Dog. I knew there was something I liked about you, I mean, aside from your pretty fa-"

WHAM

He couldn't finish his sentence as someone hit him in the head with a blue backpack. Serenity looked up higher, more confused than ever. Someone else was there as well, holding the backpack as the older man held his head in pain. He was a short kid with violet eyes and tri-coloured spiky hair, and was wearing a blue school uniform. He was also wearing a golden pendent shaped like an upside-down pyramid around his neck.

"Sorry about my grandpa, Serenity," he said. "He can be a flirt sometimes but he's pretty much harmless. In general, it's best to ignore him when he's like this." Serenity gasped a bit in surprise when she saw who it was.

_Yugi Mutou! Oh, mom, I don't believe it! The _King of Games_ and my brother's best friend Yugi Mutou is standing right here before my very eyes! And I'm standing in front of his house! _She then sighed inaudibly with delight.

Yugi's grandpa chuckled sheepishly, still nursing the bruise. "What do you have in that bag? A dictionary?" he asked.

"Actually, I have two."

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"So, you're one of Yugi's classmates from school? Let's start again. I'm his grandfather, Solomon. I don't know why he can be so violent. He _definitely_ didn't get it from his mother."

"Hi! It's very nice to meet you," Serenity greeted politely.

"What brings you out here, Serenity?" Yugi asked calmly.

Serenity laughed nervously. "Well, you know I live… nearby," she said, not wanting them to know that she lived in a tent.

"You do? Where at?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Uh… right!" she said. Yugi and Solomon both looked at her, confused. "Okay," she continued, "I think I'll just be going now. It was nice to meet you," she added with a bow.

"Wait, Serenity. Since you're here, why don't we walk together?" Yugi suggested. Serenity was speechless.

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L-O-V-E! WE LOVE YUGI!

YUGI! YUGI!

LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LOVE!

LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LOVE!

Three girls had just finished the cheer that they always used whenever Yugi walked by them on his way to school. The first girl had blue eyes and long bluish hair. Her name was Katsu Yamaneko. The second girl was smaller and had golden yellow hair with unusual lilac eyes. Her name was Supatto Yamaneko, and she was Katsu's cousin. The third girl had dark-brown, almost black hair and reddish eyes. She was Toge Yamaneko, and she was also Katsu's cousin. All three of them were wearing pink school uniforms.

They posed as they waited for a comment from Yugi. Yugi, however, didn't seem to notice them. "YUGI!" they all whined. That's when they noticed Serenity walking beside him, and got evil glints in their eyes.

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"Okay, start talking!" Katsu hissed. The three girls caught Serenity just outside her classroom, and were not too happy about seeing her. "What was that all about, Miss _Serenity_?!" She spat the name Serenity like it was a poison.

"Why were you walking to school with King Yugi?! Details and they'd better be good!" Supatto added.

"It… it was just a coincidence," Serenity stammered.

"Well, for _your_ sake I hope that was _all_ it was! Humph!" Toge snorted.

"Every girl in Domino High class 1-D knows that Yugi Mutou's the best looking boy in school!" Katsu stopped yelling and sounded like a normal, love-struck girl.

"And he's intelligent!" Supatto piped up.

"And great at all kinds of games, even a couple of sports!" Toge sighed.

"And for your info, _we _are the King Yugi Fan Club! We've got first dibs, sister, so you'd better steer clear!" Katsu finished.

"Hey!" someone said suddenly.

"WHAT?!" all three girls yelled at the same time as they turned around. Katsu whimpered a bit as she saw who it was. She had blond hair and violet eyes, and was also wearing a pink school uniform.

"She _said _it was a coincidence, now get lost before those thick noses of yours get bruised," she said threateningly. All three girls backed away a few steps nervously.

"Now, hold it, Yankee! (1)" Katsu retorted. "You're not gonna scare us with that street thug talk!" At that moment another girl showed up. She was an Egyptian with long black hair, some of it done up with two golden bands, and blue eyes. She was wearing a pink school uniform and a golden necklace with an eye on it. Currently the necklace was giving off a soft glow.

"One more word and I'll get beep with shadow magic," she said icily. The three girls screamed and ran away as fast as they could. Both girls approached Serenity, who looked at them both, relieved.

"Thanks; I didn't think they'd ever leave," she said gratefully.

"Were those catty little girls bothering you? Aw," the blond girl said, pulling Serenity into a gentle hug. The Egyptian girl was still glaring the same direction the girls ran. "Ishizu, don't actually send anyone to the Shadow Realm, okay?" the girl continued.

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The three girls were now at lunch, and were wearing aprons over their uniforms.

"You know, the truth is, I was so nervous walking with Yugi this morning. I couldn't talk to him. No, I couldn't even _look_ at him."

As Ishizu cut her fish, she spoke up. "I sense a strange aura coming from that boy," she said, holding up her knife.

The blond girl sighed. "Here we go again; Ishizu's aura report," she muttered.

"Strange how?" Serenity asked.

"I don't know. He's different," she said as she put a cover on the knife.

"Well, I admit, he _does _seem to have an aura of mystery around him, and there are some weird stories about him too. I hear one of those fan club girls tried to ask him out once."

_Supatto ran towards Yugi in the hallway and attempted to hug him._

"But he just dodged her, and she landed face first on the floor."

"_Ugh!" Supatto grunted as she hit the floor. Yugi then turned and left._

"Then he left her on the floor and ran off."

"Like I said," Ishizu continued, "I sense a strange aura." She used a scoop to fill a bowl with some rice and put it down on the table.

"Let's talk about something else?" Serenity suggested, starting to feel awkward.

"How's that job of yours going?" the blond girl asked.

"Oh, fine, I guess. Why?" Serenity asked.

"I don't know. You've been putting in a lot of hours; a lot more than usual."

"Uh… yeah. Sure," Serenity said nervously.

"You're having trouble saving up for tuition, aren't you?" she asked.

"No, it's just… well, yeah."

"That's odd. I didn't think tuition was that expensive. And I don't remember you having to work this hard before, unless… something else has changed," Ishizu commented.

"No, everything's the sa-"

"So, what is it? You in some kind of trouble? You owe somebody? Your brother's giving you enough to eat, right? He's not taking your money?" Serenity shook her head. "I know, I worry too much. But seriously, if you need me to rough someone up for you, you just say the word, got it?"

"Okay," Serenity said with a smile. _Mai's gonna kill me when she finds out, but how can I tell my two best friends that I live in a tent?_

_I can still remember how tough it was on mom after she and dad got divorced. She had to work so hard just to make ends meet. But she never seemed to mind. She always had a smile._

The screeching of tires could be heard in Serenity's thoughts.

_It's hard to believe that someone so smart and so strong could be taken away by an accident. After it happened, there were a lot of people I could have stayed with, I guess. I chose to live with my brother Joey, who recently moved into his own house to get away from dad. He was always looking out for me, and he works so hard to pay his bills. Yugi's his best friend and he helps out a lot, but I still didn't want to be a burden, so I promised I'd work to pay for my tuition myself._

_After four months, the house needed some renovations, and Joey went to stay with dad for a while. He asked me if I had a friend I could stay with. I told him yes, but Mai lives in a one-room apartment and Ishizu's got such a large family I couldn't ask them. They've got enough to worry about. I'd just be in the way. That's when it hit me! If I could somehow live on my own somewhere like Joey for a while, then everyone would be happy!_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Yugi had just closed the door of his locker when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to face them and noticed Serenity.

"Oh, Yugi, it's you… I mean it's… hi," she muttered.

"Looks like we're starting to make a habit of bumping into each other," he said with a smile.

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"It was nice meeting your grandfather this morning. He was funny. And those little zodiac figurines he made were really cute."

"Ah, yes. But I thought I overheard you saying something about how you wished there was a Year of the Cat."

Serenity blushed. "It was an idea I had when I was a kid. Silly," she added.

Yugi just kept walking. "Cats…" he muttered, "useless, foolish creatures." Serenity froze for a moment and Yugi also stopped. "Tell me, Serenity, how familiar would you say you are with the history of the Chinese Zodiac?"

"I know the stories my mom used to tell me," she said.

"Did you know that it was originally nothing more than a calendar, a mathematical system to mark the passage of time? Only later did people begin to use it for things like astrology and fortune telling."

"Oh, I guess the story about the animals isn't true then."

"No. I'm not really sure how or when the animals first came to represent the years, but I don't believe they were there from the beginning. What I _do_ know is that at no time in the history of the zodiac has the cat ever been included. So you see, the cat has been shunned by society for thousands of years, but as the story is told it still yearns to be accepted. Like I say; a truly foolish animal."

"Sounds like you really don't like cats," Serenity replied. Yugi turned to face her and a gust of wind picked up, scattering some leaves. Time just seemed to stand still for Serenity as their eyes met. Gently Yugi caught a leaf between his fingers and put it to her forehead.

"I noticed it this morning; that you're looking a little pale. Is Joey taking good care of you?" he asked.

"Yes," she said as he turned and left.

"Who knows?" he added, "Maybe we'll run into each other again tomorrow."

_Wow,_ Serenity thought to herself, _he really _is _mysterious. But I'll pretend I didn't hear that pale remark!_

Later on, she ended up at the apartment building that she worked at. She was wearing her cleaner's uniform and had her hair tied up to keep it out of the way.

_I wouldn't let anything bring me down; I've got too much to do! Besides, mom probably had it much, much worse!_

Her boss then opened the door and noticed two large trash bags just outside the door. "Hey!" he said, "You gonna let this trash stay here all night?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Serenity said as she ran off, carrying both bags. She then started a cleaning montage, as that was her job; cleaning the building.

_Like my motto says; never give up, no matter what life throws your way!_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Solomon and Yugi were out for a walk in the woods that night. "Whew; we keep eating out like this all the time, I'm gonna have to buy bigger clothes," Solomon commented.

"Well, why don't you cook?" Yugi asked.

"Why? Every time I cook dinner _you _complain."

"Pickled radish and curry is _not_ dinner; it's disgusting. I think this complaint's justified."

"You know, Yugi, you've got a good head on your shoulders, but I don't think you're cut out for housework. Can we get a housekeeper?"

"_No,_ grandpa. Hold up…" That's when the two of them noticed Serenity entering the small yellow tent. "Serenity…" She looked really tired, and she sighed as she entered the tent.

"Hi, mom, I'm home," she said to the picture with a weak smile. "I know. It's late but I can't sleep yet; I still have a paper to write." She held up a yellow washcloth. "I'm just going to go down to the stream and wash up a little, okay?"

As soon as she exited the tent, she came face-to-face with Yugi and Solomon. They both looked pretty confused at the sight of her. Serenity's eyes widened a bit, and Solomon pointed at her and laughed like a child who just saw someone get hit in the face with a pie.

"Grandpa, I think you're overdoing it a little."

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Back at the house, Solomon continued to laugh. Yugi was kneeling at one end of a large, square table with him, and Serenity was at the other end.

"So, you've been living in that tent by yourself?"

"Uh huh."

"For how long?"

"I don't know, just over a week?"

"Well, that explains it. All of this land is our property. It seemed odd that we'd suddenly have a new neighbor."

"I'm sorry. But please… can't I stay there a little while longer? It's only for a few more weeks, then I'll move back in with Joey. I don't have much money, but I can pay you. Please let me stay?"

Solomon finally stopped laughing. "Those woods aren't too safe. You've got wild animals, landslides, the occasional weirdo prowling around; it's not a good idea for a girl to be living out there alone."

"So, you're done laughing?" Yugi asked.

Serenity suddenly stood up. "Don't you worry about me! I'm already used to all the bugs, and if I can stand up to _them _I can stand up to-"

"Serenity!" Yugi cried out as she collapsed. Quickly he checked her temperature. "A fever," he muttered gravely.

"Ice! I'll get ice! It's…uh…" When Solomon opened the door there were too many trash bags to tell where the ice was.

"Huh. And you call the woods unsafe?" Serenity said.

"Well, relatively speaking." He suddenly got quiet as a howl was heard. He listened carefully to the howl and the one after it. "There. You hear that? There's just been another landslide somewhere."

"Really? But how do you know that?" Serenity asked.

"I guess you could say it's instinct," he replied quietly.

"Was it close?" Yugi asked, holding a first-aid kit.

"Close to the tent… I mean _not at all!_" He said the last part in a sing-song voice.

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The tent was completely buried under a huge mound of earth. Serenity was shocked. "Oh, this is terrible! Mom's picture was still in there! I've gotta get her out!" She desperately started to dig as quickly as she could. "Mom! Mom, I'm coming!" She couldn't take the strain, however, and collapsed soon after.

"Serenity, calm down. You already have a fever," Yugi said, sounding very concerned.

"But mom…" she muttered. Her eyes opened and they were brimming with tears. "Wh…What am I going to do? If I don't get her out soon… she'll be hurt." Solomon gently touched her hand.

"Don't strain yourself," he said quietly. "We'll come back when it's brighter. I think your mom's probably glad it wasn't _you_ in there, and I think she'd be upset if you got hurt now, don't you?"

Yugi was starting to look deep in thought about Serenity's loss.

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"There. Isn't that better? Yugi's still looking for ice if you want it."

"I'm sorry," Serenity whispered under the blanket. Yugi and Solomon carried her back to the house (mostly Yugi since Solomon has a bad back) and they got her a blanket to keep her warm for the night.

"You must be tired," Solomon said gently. "That's a lot to happen in one day."

"Mm hmm. I… I lost my home again…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. It's sad, but… not as sad as other things."

"Like what?"

"Like… not telling mom… 'Be safe' on the day she died. I said that every morning: 'Bye. Be safe.' Except that day. I didn't say it. I had a test, so I stayed up studying almost the whole night. When it was time for mom to go to work, I didn't wake up. I couldn't tell her 'Be safe'. And… she never came home. I used to think about quitting school, working. Mom told me she didn't finish school, but she always wished that she did."

"_And that's why I need you to stick with it; so you can tell me how it feels to hold that diploma in your hand, and maybe you can have the life I never got to have."_

"When she said that, that's when I knew… why she worked so hard. It was all for me. And with everything she did, I couldn't even wake up long enough to say goodbye when she was walking out the door. Not even that one little thing. And then she was gone. So now… I have to finish high school like mom wanted me to no matter what. I have to hold that diploma in my hand. I have to… for her. I can't give up… just because… of a fever… like this."

Then she drifted off into a deep slumber. Solomon was quiet as he watched her sleep.

"It's amazing," he heard. Yugi had just come in with an ice pack. "She always seemed so cheerful at school. You'd never guess she's been suffering like this for so long. When I was young there were many times I wanted to run away from it all. I never did; I could always find a reason to stay. The truth is I wasn't strong enough or I could've left. I could've lived in the woods by myself in a tent. I could've done what she did," he finished with a small smile.

"You could call it amazing, but I don't think the word does it justice," Solomon said with a faint smile. Yugi looked over at the sleeping girl.

"No; no, it doesn't. Do you mind keeping an eye on her? I'm going out for some air."

"What? Where? You're not going to try digging up that tent. You are, aren't you? Do you want me to come with you? It won't be an easy job for you alone."

Yugi opened the door and faced his grandfather with a smirk. "You're right. _But I don't think I said that I was going alone_." His eyes glowed and a loud squeaking was heard; the squeaking of thousands of rats.

"Be safe, Yugi."

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As Serenity slept, she dreamt of her mother. She remembered how whenever she got a fever before, her mother wouldn't let her go to school or work until she was better.

"_Serenity? Serenity… You've got a fever again. You don't _have_ to push yourself so hard. You don't _have_ to do things the way I did. You can just be yourself. Do things your own way, one step at a time. You'll get there. I promise!"_

"Mom...?" Serenity mumbled as she woke up. Her mom's picture was the first thing she saw. The words she said still echoed in her mind.

_Just be yourself! You'll be fine._

Serenity immediately pushed herself up. How had _that_ gotten there? "Mom, you're here," she said, still surprised. She picked up the picture and brought it closer to her. "But how did you…"

"Good morning," someone said. That's when Serenity noticed Yugi. He was standing right outside the open front door carrying a couple of bags. "How are you feeling today?" he asked with a smile.

Serenity was too nervous to even speak properly. "Um… I guess… I…" she stammered.

"I've brought your things for you. I think I got them all, if you'd like to check."

"Yugi, this must've taken you all night," Serenity commented.

Yugi laughed a bit. "Don't be silly," he said.

"Then how did you… I mean, there was so much."

"It's a secret," Yugi said with a smile.

"Oh."

"I know the place is dirty…" he started to say.

"What?"

"…and I realize the idea of living with two boys who you barely know might seem awkward, but there_ is _an extra room upstairs. You're welcome to stay there if you'd like."

Serenity quickly shook her head. "No, no, no! Out of the question!" she cried.

"We're not _that_ weird…"

"No! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Of course it won't be free," someone else said. Solomon had come up right behind her. "I do intend to pay you for your services."

"For my… services?"

"As our brand new _housekeeper_!" He said the last part in a sing-song voice yet again. "We'll just take these things to your room now," he added as he and Yugi picked up the bags. "I assume your references will all check out?"

"Wait! I can't let you do this! Not after all the trouble you've gone through already! Please; it's too much!"

"Serenity," Yugi said gently as he turned to face her. "We're doing this because we want to. You don't have to worry that it's causing us any trouble. And besides, where else can you go?" He had her there. She was silent for a moment.

"Well, if I'm gonna stay then I'll work for room and board, and that's it! I don't want any money, and I wanna know all the rules of the house. I…"

"Relax, it's alright." She was quiet again. "You can do things your own way here. The only thing you _have _to do is be yourself. Fair enough?"

_Just be yourself! You'll be fine._

The two boys turned and left, leaving Serenity speechless. "I don't know. Do you really think it's a good idea having a _girl_ in the house?"

"Naturally, _you_ wait before you finally start to worry. But I wouldn't. We'll be okay as long as she doesn't try to hug us." Neither of them noticed a brown-haired figure in one of the trees nearby. He had a wide smirk on his face, finally truly satisfied for the first time in four months.

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_All's well that ends well, I guess,_ Serenity thought. _But I'm still not sure how I ended up in Yugi's house, or borrowing some of his clothes. It's like being in a dream. _She was currently wearing some blue jeans with a black leather shirt. He seemed to really like wearing leather.

Yugi was also in her new room, opening up one of the windows. "Sorry about the smell. We've had this room closed off for a while. You may want to keep the windows open for a while."

The roof then started to make a cracking noise, and somebody crashed right through it. Rubble landed everywhere. Solomon, who was just down below, heard the noise and looked up, slightly confused. A boy stood there with brown hair in a mullet. His eyes were blue and he was wearing a purple jacket and black pants, and a bracelet made of blue and white beads around his wrist.

"Yo!" was all he said. Yugi didn't even look at him. The other boy didn't notice Serenity behind him, looking confused. "Time to pay the piper, rat-boy! I'm here to collect!" he taunted. Yugi then turned to face him, looking uninterested.

"Funny. I would've thought he'd send someone with more than one brain cell," he retorted calmly. The other boy got angry and growled a bit.

"That's right! You'd better get your tough talk out of the way while ya can, 'cause I'm about to wipe that stupid little smirk right off YOUR FACE!!" And with that, he charged.

"Wait, stop! Don't fight!" Serenity tried to step in, but she slipped on a piece of wood and fell over. She crashed into the boy and accidentally put her arms around him. Both boys gasped before a small cloud of orange smoke filled the room.

POOF

Serenity and the boy both landed on the ground, with Yugi standing over them looking pitiful. _He couldn't have picked a worse time to show up, _he thought to himself. Solomon quietly peered around the corner.

"_Yugi! _What were all of those crashing noises? Kaiba isn't here, is he?" he asked, saying the first part in a sing-song voice. Serenity got up quickly.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright? I…" she stopped when she noticed what it was she was holding; a brown-furred, blue-eyed and extremely pissed off cat. "WAH! I turned him into a cat! I'm so sorry! I don't know how it happened but we're going to help you okay?!" She was shaking the cat a bit hard, making him even more pissed off and the two Mutou's just sighed. "Hurry; we need to get him to a doctor right away!" The cat noticed that a plank of wood was coming loose from the ceiling and it hit Serenity right on the head.

"Serenity!"

"Serenity!"

Serenity, dazed, stumbled over to the other two boys and landed right in their arms. There were two more small clouds of smoke; one was blue, and the other was pink.

POOF!

POOF!

When Serenity's vision cleared a few seconds later she noticed a grey dog and a black rat as well. She felt like she was going to faint. _Oh mom, I think this _must_ all be a dream. Everybody's turning into animals!_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: Ooh, a cliffhanger! I'll put the next chapter up soon.

(1) Yankee means gang member.

Coming soon: Episode 2 – The Zodiac Curse.


	3. The Zodiac Curse

A/N: Here's Episode 2, with a little more light shone on what's going on. For those people who watch Fruits Basket, you already know.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this? I already did it in the first chapter!

**Card Basket**

_Episode 2 – The Zodiac Curse_

Presently, the postman stopped right outside of a small house in the middle of the forest. The residents of this house were Yugi Mutou and his grandfather Solomon. He stopped his moped just outside the house and headed over to the front door.

"Call a doctor, or a vet, or anybody!" someone yelled. He noticed a girl with long brown hair that he had never seen before running down the stairs. In her arms were three animals; a grey dog, a brown cat and a black rat. He was pretty startled when she stopped right in front of him. "Mr. Postman, it's terrible! You see? They're animals!"

"Well, yes, they certainly are," he replied. He then handed her a letter. "Here's your mail."

"No, no, no! We've gotta do something!" She was now only holding the cat. The dog was on the ground and the rat was on his head. The dog walked over to him and gently took the letter in his jaws. The postman stopped for a moment, then laughed while petting the dog on the head. "I wish _my_ dog was this smart. Good day!" he said as he left. The girl, Serenity Wheeler, sunk to her knees.

"Damn it!" someone said, "How am I supposed to come up with an excuse if all of you transformed too?!" She turned around and saw something shocking; _the cat was talking_.

The rat spoke up next. "Don't you _dare_try to blame this on us, you stupid cat!"

"Go ahead; say that again!"

"Stupid. Cat," the rat sounded out, word-for-word.

"Why you little-!"

"Cut it out, both of you!" the dog cut in, sending the rat rolling down his back. Serenity had gone pale.

_You mean they talk too?_ She thought to herself. The cat had arched his back and started hissing and the dog sighed. "Anyway, it's too late for excuses. We might as well tell her the truth. Serenity, I'm a dog." The rat climbed back up onto his head. "Yugi here, he's a rat." He then gestured to the cat that was now moping and facing the wall. "That's Kaiba. Don't let his temper scare you. He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder."

Serenity looked back at Solomon the dog. "So this is… normal?" she asked.

"Strange choice of words, but yes." Yugi looked away from her as Solomon spoke. "We and some other friends and family of ours have lived with this curse for generations. We transform into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac-"

Kaiba glared at him angrily. "Sorry; twelve animals plus the cat." Yugi moved onto Solomon's tail. "Anyway, whenever our bodies come under a lot of pressure or when we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex we transform. We change back after a while, the only thing is-"

POOF

POOF

POOF

"-we're naked."

"EEK!" Serenity screamed as she turned towards the wall. Good thing she did, too, because there were now three naked males in the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, we must seem pretty strange to you at this point," Solomon said. Yugi, Serenity and Solomon were all back in the living room, and Kaiba was sitting just outside the open door, all three boys fully clothed.

"But… it's not _your_ fault that you're cursed," Serenity replied. _A curse,_ she thought to herself. _I guess that would explain a few things. If Yugi turns into a rat whenever a girl hugs him, that must be why he dodged that fan club girl in the hall. He didn't want her to find out his secret!_

"Serenity, didn't you say that sometimes you wished you could be a cat?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah. Uh huh."

"Well, what's it like seeing the real thing?" he asked, gesturing to Kaiba.

_Right! It's the cat from the Chinese Zodiac, like in the story! _She thought to herself.

"Yes, it's hard to believe, I know. And I agree; the phrase 'cat-like reflexes' doesn't really apply to him, the way he let you fall on him like that. But he _is_ a cat, albeit clumsier than most." Kaiba started to get really angry. "Surprising, really, considering the amount of martial arts training he's had." Kaiba got really pissed off now. "I'm sure he'd tell you the same thing himself, if he wasn't so busy brooding like a child-"

Kaiba couldn't take it anymore and stood up. "Will you shut up, old man?! I told you, it's not my fault! If you wanna blame somebody, blame her!" He pointed to Serenity as he yelled. She just looked confused about all of this. "_She _shouldn't even _be_ here!"

"Leave her out of this," Yugi retorted as calmly as he could manage. "Who we choose to allow into our house is really none of your business. You're the one who doesn't belong here," he finished in a hiss.

"PUNK!" Kaiba yelled, smashing the table with his fist. One side of it hit Serenity on the forehead. Kaiba actually looked a little stunned. Serenity looked a little dazed, and there was a slight trickle of blood on her forehead.

"Oh, Serenity! You're bleeding!" Solomon looked and sounded very concerned about her. Serenity got a small shock from the news and whimpered a bit.

SLAP

Yugi finally couldn't take it anymore. Usually he'd avoid violence, but Kaiba just hurt an innocent bystander. He stood up and slapped his rival right across the face. Serenity gasped and Solomon sighed.

"I knew Kaiba was reckless with his temper, but to act like this…" he muttered.

"You're still as one-sided as ever," Yugi commented coldly, trying to keep himself from getting any angrier, "and I'm going to prove it to you by giving you what you want. Only _this _time, I won't hold back." Kaiba took some time to rub the mark on his cheek, then smirked.

"Okay, sissy boy!" he yelled as he tried to land the first hit of the fight. He lashed out a strong kick, but Yugi ducked without even flinching.

"No! Yugi!" Serenity cried out. Solomon gently took her chin in his hand.

"Don't worry," he said, as he started to dab a cotton swab on her wound. "This goes back a lot farther than just today." Kaiba continued to try hitting Yugi, but the smaller boy was more agile and kept dodging. "Those two do nothing _but_ fight whenever they see each other."

"But… uh… shouldn't we stop them?" she asked as he put a bandage on her forehead.

"No, it's okay." She looked more confused than ever now. "It'll all be over in a second," he added as he turned to watch the fight. Kaiba fired another punch and kick at Yugi, but he dodged them both. He moved right up close to the taller boy, catching him off guard. He then landed a powerful kick right on Kaiba's jaw, sending him flying right through the closed door and right onto the ground. Yugi put his leg back down and glanced at his fallen opponent. "I told you I wouldn't hold back. You should've listened," he said.

"He… sent him flying," she mumbled, shocked.

"Yugi, try not to destroy the house, okay?" Solomon asked after seeing the state of the door.

"I didn't mean to knock him _that_ far. He really should keep his guard up," Yugi said apologetically. He then turned to Serenity. "Serenity, you're hurt," he pointed out.

"Oh, it's fine! Really! I'm okay!" Serenity insisted. "But I'm not so sure about him…"

"He's fine. The only thing about him that's bruised is his ego."

"I'm guessing your dreams of being a cat are pretty much shattered at this point," Solomon stated.

"Well… I don't know. I wouldn't-" Just before she finished, Kaiba got to his feet and ran off.

"-say that," she finished. She then noticed Yugi staring after him.

_It's really hard to believe, mom. All the girls call Yugi a king, but I didn't think he could really be so… so noble. I just thought it was because he was cute and good at games, but this…I've never seen him act like this at school._

"SCHOOL?! Oh no, oh no, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Sorry! Thanks for everything! Gotta go, gotta go!"

"I'm not so sure you wanna go in that uniform," Solomon pointed out. Serenity froze and looked down. Sure enough, her uniform was filthy. "Ah, suddenly she remembers her adventures in the woods."

"I don't know. It'snot that bad; maybe no one will notice."

"Oh, I think they will," Solomon insisted.

"You're right," Serenity cried, bowing her head. "But I promised mom! I _have_ to go to school!"

Solomon held up his hand. "Fine; don't let me stop you. A promise is a promise." Serenity looked up. "Which reminds me, I_ will_ have to tell Atem about everything that's happened this morning." Yugi started to look more than a little worried.

"You have to tell _who_?" Serenity said curiously.

"Oh, sorry. He's the head of the zodiac and Yugi's older brother."

Serenity blinked. "So then I guess, Atem, he must be someone pretty important, huh." Yugi looked down at his feet, tears threatening to fall.

"Well, he is to us, at least. And after all, we _did_ just give away the big secret."

"Oh, right! That _does_ make sense. But I really am late. Bye!" she said as she walked out the door that wasn't broken, closing it behind her and walking off.

Solomon was waving a bit at the door. "_Be safe,_" he said in a sing-song voice. Yugi just glared at him.

"Since when have you been so talkative about our family matters?" he asked suspiciously. His grandfather turned to face him. "You're planning on erasing Serenity's memories, aren't you? Just like in the old days…" he said with a sigh.

"That's not my intention," Solomon said quietly. "This isn't like before. Too many people knew about us back then. It couldn't be helped."

Yugi turned away from him. "Fine. I'm going to school," he said simply, heading upstairs. Solomon waited until he had left, then smiled.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for letting me use the washing machine." Serenity was wearing the pink running clothes that she wore for gym class. Her uniform was now washed, thanks to Mai and Ishizu.

"Believe me, I did us _all_ a favour," Mai replied. "Now, _how_ did you say you got so dirty?" Suddenly, some people who were very much unwanted decided to show up.

L-O-V-E! WE LOVE YUGI!

YUGI! YUGI!

LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LOVE!

LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LOVE!

"So, Miss Serenity, how come the dirty clothes?! Did King Yugi give you the ditch?!" Katsu taunted. She and her cousins laughed at this, then froze as they noticed Ishizu and her glowing necklace. They screamed and ran away, Ishizu chasing them with a shadowy aura around herself.

"Good grief, those girls are giving me a headache," Mai complained. "Their king doesn't show, so they have to bother someone. But why you, I wonder?"

_I can't imagine what they would do if they knew I was staying at Yugi's house! I think even Mai and Ishizu would be upset if they knew! _She thought to herself.

"Oh, well! Silly, silly! I'd better go change now!" Serenity said, desperate to get away for a while.

"Huh?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity had just left the classroom, changed into her uniform. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.

"Hello, Serenity."

"Oh, Yugi! Hi," she said, slightly startled. He was looking worried about something.

"So did you tell them? Your friends… about this morning…"

"Um… I told them I tripped. Oh! Your secret! No, no I didn't! I promise I won't tell a soul! Mom always told me it's not right to gossip! Oh, but you don't know me that well yet!"

"No, really…"

"I swear! I'll even write it in blood if you'd like! Cross my heart and hope to die! Whatever it takes for you to believe me! I'll swallow a thousand-"

"That's not what I meant," Yugi insisted as he forced her against the wall. She finally quieted down long enough for him to say what he needed to say. "I'm sorry." She looked up at him, confused. "I do believe you when you say you'll keep our secret, but it doesn't matter, we still might have to erase your memory." Serenity now had tears in her eyes. "It doesn't hurt; it's like hypnotism. You'll just forget everything you saw this morning. I know this because this isn't the first time someone's discovered our secret."

_A lot of children were playing a game out in a small clearing in the forest, among them a seven-year old boy with vibrant violet eyes and tri-coloured spiky hair. Everyone was laughing and having a great time._

"It happened when I was seven years old. I was playing with some other kids in the garden behind our house.

_One of the girls suddenly tripped over a rock and landed right in Yugi's arms. There was a bright flash of light, and when it cleared, Yugi's clothes were on the ground and a small black rat stood in his place._

"After that, we had to erase _every one _of those kid's memories."

"_Atem, am I really that strange? Am I so strange that we have to hide it from everyone?" Yugi was now talking with someone who was obscured by a screen. The only thing that could be seen of him was a silhouette, but his figure looked a lot like Yugi's._

"_Hm. Yes, you _are_ that strange. A human who turns into a rat?" Yugi looked down at his feet. "What do you think they'd do if they knew? Really; you're a freak. They wouldn't come _near_ you. They'd _hate_ you._

"Yugi?"

"Hm?" He then noticed Serenity looking at him with an expression of deep concern.

"Are you alright?" Yugi looked down at his feet.

"But I… I can't go against Atem's decision, whatever it is. I can't stop him, no matter how much I might want to. That's why… I'm sorry." He then started to walk away.

"Wait," Serenity ran to catch up to him and accidentally put her arms around him.

POOF

Yugi transformed once again. The rat landed on the floor, his clothes right under him. Serenity was up against a wall. "I am so sorry! Really! I didn't do it on purpose! Oh, I'm such an idiot! I wasn't even thinking!"

"It's alright; just as long as no one else saw."

"Oh. Okay." She gently picked up the rat. "What I wanted to say was thank you for being concerned about me. But really, it's okay. I'm fine; I'm not scared. So don't worry. I mean, I completely understand if you and your family and friends don't want anyone else to know about your secret. That's why it's called a secret, right? So whatever you decide is fine with me. I want _you _to do whatever makes _you _feel the most comfortable." Yugi now had tears in his beady little eyes.

_I don't really like the idea of losing my memory, and I don't wanna forget meeting Yugi. But he's done so much for me without asking anything in return. So I guess, if that's what I have to do…"_

"You can erase my memory, but afterwards promise you'll still be my friend?" Yugi looked at her a little longer, then…

POOF

Serenity looked up just in time to avoid seeing Yugi's naked lower half.

"Sorry," Yugi said as he quickly got dressed. "The amount of time before we change back is a bit random."

"It's… okay," Serenity mumbled, blushing madly. She giggled a bit as he turned back to her. "Yugi, your chain's a bit tangled." The chain on his pendent was a bit twisted around at parts; heaven knows how it happened, though.

"I've never been good at this sort of thing," he sighed.

"Don't feel bad; nobody's perfect. Good thing you have me here!" She then went to work untangling the chain. As she worked, Yugi remembered Atem's words.

_You're a freak. They wouldn't come _near_ you. They'd _hate_ you._

"Serenity, it really didn't bother you to see?"

"Oh, don't worry! I closed my eyes in time!"

"No, I didn't mean_ that_."

"Huh?" She was confused again.

Yugi was silent for a moment, then smiled at her. "So, can I… walk you to class?" he asked.

"Uh huh!" she answered with a smile.

_But afterwards, promise you'll still be my friend?_

Yugi gently smiled at her even more as the two of them walked down the hallway together. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem! Untangling is my specialty!" The two of them laughed about that as they kept walking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far away, at the main house, Solomon was next to another boy. He was wearing blue pants and a black leather shirt, as well as a pendent just like Yugi's. There was a small dove perched on his finger. The two were quiet, then the other boy spoke.

"I believe… I will trust Miss Serenity." Solomon looked at him oddly. "For Yugi and for Kaiba, even for myself, this may be a great opportunity." He held up his finger and the dove flew away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm back!"

"Hello! We're home from school!"

Yugi opened the door to Solomon's work area. "Grandpa? He must've gone out."

"I'm gonna go put away my bag," Serenity said from the stairs.

"Okay."

When she opened the door, she was met with a surprise. The brown-haired boy, Kaiba, was on a stepladder fixing the hole in the roof that he made. He got down a few seconds later and noticed her. The two were quiet for a moment, then Serenity looked up at the hole in the ceiling. It was covered up with a large blue patch. She was about to speak when Kaiba beat her to it.

"Don't freak out; it's only temporary," he said calmly. "You can call someone to fix it better later; this'll at least keep the rain out 'till then."

"Yes; thank you," Serenity said quietly.

_I did hope I'd get to talk to him again after he ran off, but I don't think he likes me very much._

"Hey!"

"I'm here!"

"I'm not very good at controlling my temper," he said as he squeezed the tape roll he was holding like a stress ball. "When I get angry, I… I don't know; maybe I don't have enough training. I just… I can't _stand_ losing to that damn Yugi! So about this morning, it wasn't… What I mean is… I'm sor-!"

"I'm home! Yugi, Serenity, are you here? And Kaiba, I hope you're not doing something stupid and tearing up my house again!"

"OH, FORGET IT!" he yelled as he stormed downstairs, Serenity following him.

"Wait!" But he didn't wait; he just stormed out the door. "Please don't go."

"He'll be back," Solomon said plainly. "It's not like he has anywhere else to go. But never mind him; could you come in here for a second?"

"Uh… okay." She was a bit nervous now. She took one last look at the door and followed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I had a little talk with Atem today," he started. "He's decided that as long as you can keep our secret, you can stay here." Serenity sighed with relief.

"Good," she said. "So then there's… no punishment?"

"Punishment? Why would we… you can keep the secret."

"Yes!" _That's great news! I won't have to lose my memory!_ Yugi smiled at her, just as relieved as she was, but then looked a little nervous. When Solomon left the room later, Yugi confronted him.

"Grandpa," he started, "it all seems too easy doesn't it? I can't help but think Atem has something else in store for us."

"I don't know," Solomon admitted, "But don't worry so much! Everything's going well! Enjoy it! For now, let's just trust Atem to do whatever's best."

Yugi glanced at him, still slightly suspicious, when he heard a voice.

"Um, excuse me?" It was Serenity. "Uh… I'm sorry to interrupt; it's just that… you've been so nice to me. I hope it's no trouble."

Yugi looked confused at this point, and Solomon was grinning like an idiot. "Uh… no," Yugi finally said. "No, of course it isn't."

"Make yourself at home, okay?"

"Okay."

_It looks like everything's going to be okay, mom. Even after everything that happened this morning, the Mutous have still invited me to stay in their house. I guess this will be our home for a while._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The next morning, Serenity was more startled than ever at the sight of all the garbage that was piled up in the kitchen. Yugi was more than a little embarrassed at showing her. The two of them stood there for a while until Serenity spoke up.

"Well, it's not gonna clean itself!"

"I'll help you! Just tell me what to do!"

Solomon picked that moment to open the door. "You'd better not. The closest thing Yugi's seen to a mop is Kaiba's brother's hair. I think he'd just get in the way."

_Kaiba's brother?_ Serenity thought, but she decided not to ask. "That's alright; I'll take care of it! We _did_ all make a deal that _I _would do the housework in exchange for my room. I wouldn't be earning my keep if I let you two help me."

Solomon held up one hand. "Well, I can see we're in good hands. I'm going to go find Kaiba and I'll be out with him for a while. We should be back by lunchtime."

"Sure!" Serenity said, "Just leave it to me!"

Yugi took another look at the mess. "In that case, I guess I'll go out too."

"Fine. I'll be done when you get back!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity tied her hair up and put on an apron. With another look at the mess, she began to have second thoughts. "What was I thinking? I don't even know where to start. But Serenity Wheeler never gives up!" With that, she started to clean. She carried garbage, washed windows, mopped the floor, washed dishes and was finished by the time Yugi got back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything was so clean as Yugi stepped into the kitchen. Serenity undid her hair and let it fall back out. "And that's that!"

"Amazing! If I didn't know better, I'd think I walked into the wrong house!" He took another look around as the kitchen sparkled. "Since when do we have a rice cooker?"

"I found it in the trash. Oh, by the way, I hope you've got your appetite 'cause lunch is almost ready!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mmm! It's delicious!" Yugi commented as he ate.

"You think so? You don't think it's too bland?"

"It's perfect! The best lunch I've ever had! If you do all the cooking, I can understand why Joey's always in a hurry to get home and eat!"

"Don't be silly."

Yugi stopped for a moment. "That reminds me; I wonder where Grandpa and that stupid cat ran off to."

Serenity also stopped eating. "I don't know. He said they'd be back by lunchtime."

"Well, shame on them. It's rude to let a meal this good get cold."

_It's so strange. I guess I still haven't gotten used to the idea of living here. But here I am, having lunch with Yugi._

"Oh yeah! You went out for a while too, didn't you? Where'd you go; shopping?"

"No, I just went out back to my secret base."

Serenity smiled even brighter. "What? You have a secret base? You mean like a fort or an underground hideout? That sounds so exciting!"

"I don't think it's quite as elaborate as what _you're_ thinking, but I'll tell you what; next time I'll take you with me."

"What?! Do you really mean it?! I'm going to a secret base! I've always wanted to see one in person! The neighborhood boys had one when I was a kid but they told me girls weren't allowed! I can't wait to see-"

She was cut off as an angry Kaiba slammed the door open, Solomon right behind him. "Stop! Kaiba, just listen to me!"

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT! YOU THINK IT'S _FUN _JERKIN' ME AROUND LIKE THAT!"

"Now, hold on; it wasn't… okay it was a little bit fun, but that's not why I did it! It was for your own good! And don't forget, it was Atem's decision!"

"Shut up! I don't give a damn about Atem!"

Serenity tried to speak up. "Oh… um… are you hungry? I made you some lunch."

"Shut up!" Kaiba angrily slammed the door behind him as he left, making Serenity wince.

"Kaiba, don't take this out on Serenity! And use the front door next time! And take off your shoes!" Solomon yelled as he tried to take his off quickly so no one would notice.

"You're setting a fine example," Yugi said sarcastically, noticing this.

"This is the first time I've seen you in a suit," Serenity commented. "It looks good on you."

Solomon leaned in close. "Hm, you don't say."

"You look like a butler," Yugi said.

"Ah, lunch is ready," Solomon said with a smile.

"Yes, but shouldn't we see about Kaiba?" Serenity asked.

Solomon took off his suit (he was wearing a shirt underneath). "Don't you worry about him. He just needs to let off some steam. He's angry that I made him take an entrance exam."

"An entrance exam?" she repeated. "For what?"

"Funny you should ask." He then chuckled nervously. "As of today, Kaiba is officially the newest student at your school. Oh, and he's also going to be living with us from now on, too."

Yugi got really angry at this news. "Don't you take a single bite," he hissed, "Get out!"

"Well, I… uh… had a feeling you'd be upset."

Meanwhile, Kaiba was sitting up on top of the roof.

"You see," Solomon explained, "Kaiba pulled a little vanishing act on us. He just up and disappeared for four months. But do you know where he disappeared_ to_? He was up on a mountaintop, training."

"What kind of training?" Serenity asked. Yugi still looked angry, but not as much as before.

"Let me guess," he said. "He's been meditating under waterfalls and fighting bears."

"I'm not so sure about that part," Solomon admitted. "The point is he really wants to beat Yugi."

"Stupid cat," Yugi muttered under his breath.

_So Kaiba spent all that time trying to beat Yugi, and Yugi really doesn't seem to like Kaiba at all, either. This is just like the old story. After the rat tricked the cat, the cat must've been angry for a long, long time. Maybe _that's _why Yugi and Kaiba don't get along. I don't know, and somehow, I get the feeling he wouldn't wanna talk about it with _me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I wonder if he could tell us about Yugi!"

"He's so cute!"

"Not as cute as Yugi!"

"Where is he?"

"Oh, I think he's amazing!"

"Oh wow!"

"Oh my goodness!"

"What do you think? Is he really related to King Yugi?" Katsu asked.

"I bet he knows _everything_ about him!" Supatto said dreamily.

Kaiba backed up in his seat, looking really angry. Serenity, Mai and Ishizu watched from a distance. "Poor Kaiba…" Serenity muttered. "He looks so scared."

"They're the same…" Ishizu mumbled. Serenity and Mai both faced her, confused. "His aura is exactly the same as Yugi's. I don't know, but they're something about them that's almost inhuman." Serenity tensed up a bit; did she know about the curse?

"Ishizu, that's just rude," Mai said with a smirk. Yugi walked by the three of them at that moment. "Hey. Question. So this new guy; is he really distantly related to you or what?"

Yugi turned to face her. "Yes, that is the rumor going around. If you don't mind, I'm going to leave it at that." As he walked away, Ishizu and Mai looked confused and Serenity's expression was unreadable.

"Hey! I thought we were talking!" Katsu yelled. Kaiba was trying to get away from the mob of Yugi fangirls. Supatto ran up to him.

"Wait! Come back!" She grabbed onto his arm in an attempt to stop him. Kaiba didn't like that much, so he grabbed her wrist and flipped her over, pinning her to the ground. "What are you doing?!" she yelled. Serenity watched in shock.

"Kaiba, I don't think that's a good idea!" she called.

"Get off me! Let me up!"

"Hey! What did she do to you?!"

Kaiba couldn't take the pressure anymore. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" he yelled. He opened the window and jumped right out. Everyone watched in shock as he made a perfect landing on all fours, then got up and ran.

"Amazing! That proves it! He's definitely related to King Yugi!" Katsu stated.

"I can't believe he jumped," Toge said in shock.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting about me?! I _did_ just get my arm ripped off!" Supatto whined.

Mai started to laugh as she watched. "That was hysterical! He looked like a cat trying to get out of a bath!" Yugi heard this and started to walk away.

_Poor Kaiba. He really _is_ like the cat from the old story, mom. He must feel so alone right now. But who knows? Maybe… maybe one day we can be friends._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: Well, that's Episode 2. I'll update as soon as I can.

Next time: Episode 3 – All Shapes And Sizes.


	4. All Shapes and Sizes

A/N: Here it is. The next episode. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Please don't make me say it again.

**Card Basket**

_Episode 3 – All Shapes and Sizes_

"_What do you think? Is he really related to King Yugi?" Katsu asked._

"_I bet he knows everything about him!" Supatto said dreamily._

_Kaiba backed up in his seat, looking really angry. Serenity, Mai and Ishizu watched from a distance._

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!" he yelled. He opened the window and jumped right out. Everyone watched in shock as he made a perfect landing on all fours, then got up and ran._

"_Amazing!_

"Poor Kaiba," Serenity said quietly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The school bell chimed as the clock read 10:20. Kaiba was sitting outside, panting. Soon, he heard footsteps. Whoever it was, he didn't want to talk to them.

"Hey." He recognized the voice. What did that damn rat want _now_? "What were you trying to prove, pulling a stunt like that? Think! If you act like an idiot, I'm the one who's going to hear about it!"

"It serves you right," Kaiba hissed. "Why do you wanna go to a school with all these crazy giggling girls, anyway?"

"I suppose you'd prefer I live my life in fear of being transformed. You sound like Atem. _He_ thought I should go to an all-boys academy too. Which is why I came here; to get away from him and out of that house!" Kaiba looked at him for a moment, then looked away again.

"What do _you_ know? You're a spoiled little rat." At that moment, Serenity walked by. "You want out? Fine. But as for me," he continued as he stood up, his hands balled into fists, "I'm gonna prove once and for all that I'm better than you! And then I'm gonna take my place as a true member of this group! I'm not gonna be left out anymore! DO YOU HEAR ME, RAT-BOY?!" he yelled as he grabbed Yugi by the shirt collar. Serenity gasped; they were going to start fighting again!

"No!" she yelled as she ran up to them, accidentally putting her arms around Kaiba in a hug.

POOF

Yugi just watched as Serenity and a brown cat landed on the ground. "I am _so_ sorry," Serenity whimpered. Then she started to panic. "But I saw what was going on and I guess I just panicked! I'm sorry that you're angry, but fighting at school isn't a good idea! You'll get into _huge_ trouble if they catch you and on your first-"

"Shut up," Kaiba growled. Serenity looked surprised at this. Kaiba turned to face her, his back arched and his fur standing on end. "Who do you think you are?! This is between me and him! It's got _nothing_ to do with you, you stupid little girl! From now on, just stay the hell away from me!" Serenity backed away and Kaiba just realized that he'd lost his temper again. Serenity turned and started to walk away.

"Okay, that was maximum rage. He hates me; that's all there is to it. He _really_ hates me," she said to herself.

"You really are an idiot," Yugi said when she was out of earshot.

"So what? You gonna hit me now?" Kaiba asked.

"And wouldn't it hurt more if I didn't?" was Yugi's answer as he walked away. Kaiba just put one paw on his clothes and said nothing further.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_I remember, when I first heard the story of the Zodiac animals, all I could think about was that poor cat. While all the other animals were having a wonderful time at the banquet, the cat was still lying in its bed, dreaming of a party that would never come._

"_I know! I won't be a dog anymore; I'll be a cat too!"_

_And I really meant it. I wanted to show the cat that no matter what, he had a friend. I like cats so much; I know I would have been the first to join a Year of the Cat fan club, if there _was_ such a thing. Now he hates me. I'm such a fool, mom; a real fool._

Serenity was kneeling in the hallway, people stopping to stare at her. Suddenly, a familiar necklace glowed at the back of the crowd.

"Incoming; Serenity's aura," Ishizu said as the crowd parted a bit.

"There she is," Mai pointed out. Serenity looked up, startled. "Hey, what are you doing kneeling in the hall? Class is…" she stopped as Serenity hit her head against a fire extinguisher container on the wall.

"I can't believe I did it again!" she wailed. "I bumped my head! It almost hurts worse than the first time! Look, I'm crying, it hurts so bad!" She actually did that to try to avoid talking about what was going on with her and Kaiba. Mai just stared at her.

"I _would_ be worried, but I don't think her brain damage could get any worse," she said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So," Solomon started, "you're home. Had enough school for one day, huh." He was sitting at his desk with Kaiba lying down on his side outside the open side door, his back turned towards the older man.

"I don't wanna live in this house anymore," he said quietly.

"You can train on a mountain for four months. I think you can endure more than three days here."

"I said such terrible things to her. Terrible."

"And by _her_, I take it you mean Serenity. Let me guess; you lost your temper and yelled at her again, right? You know, you shouldn't do that if you're just going to regret it," he continued, waving his finger as if scolding a small child, "Not too bright now, is it?"

"Save your breath, old man. I'm just not meant to get along with other people. Period. End of story."

"Oh, sure. Some people just don't. But you're not one of them. You lack experience, that's all. For example, I'm sure you could smash this table to bits with your bare hands, but I'm equally sure you could punch the table without breaking it. And why is that? Because I know your training has taught you to control your fists. At least, I should hope so after four months of fighting bears and whatnot."

"I didn't fight bears!"

"My point is it takes just as much training to get along with people." Kaiba sat up, confused. "Only, training by yourself in the mountains won't do you any good. You need to surround yourself with others. Once you get to know them, of course, you take a chance that you'll end up hurting them or they'll end up hurting you. One of those things might very well happen. That's the only way we learn; about others, and about ourselves. You're a black belt in martial arts, but I guess you've still got a white belt in social skills. Someday, you're going to meet someone who truly wants to be your friend and be theirs. But if you don't keep training, you won't be ready when that happens."

"It'll never happen anyway."

"Ah, ah. Never say never."

"Okay, fine, maybe if I meet somebody with brain damage or something."

"That's the spirit!"

"I'm home," Yugi said as he opened the door.

"Ah, so you are." Kaiba moved out of Yugi's line of sight, glaring at him all the way. "Is Serenity not with you?"

"She had to work this evening, but she'll be done by eleven. I'm thinking about picking her up."

"That's probably a good idea. There're some real weirdoes around here."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The stars shone brightly in the clear night sky as Serenity walked through the woods back to the house.

_Another day's work, over and done. But it's late. I wonder if anyone's still awake. I hope Kaiba at least got some dinner tonight if he wasn't too angry to eat again. Maybe I could… oh, but I'm probably the last person he wants to see._

"_Just stay the hell away from me!"_

Serenity sniffled a bit as she walked, looking as if she was about to start crying.

_No one's ever hated me before. I don't know what to do._

"_Just be yourself! You'll be fine."_

"Yes, you're right mom," she said out loud. _I just have to keep trying. _Suddenly she heard a rustling noise in the bushes and shivered. _What was that? Is there somebody else here? _She heard footsteps coming closer and she got even more worried. "Oh no," she whimpered. _What if it's one of those weirdoes Solomon warned me about?! _She almost screamed as whoever it was came to just a few steps behind her. "No!" she screamed, swinging her suitcase behind her to defend herself.

She managed to hit whoever it was on the side of the head, but he didn't make a sound. Slowly she opened her eyes to see what she hit. Turned out it was Kaiba she whacked. _Kaiba! He's gonna think I thought he was a stalker! But I guess I did…Oh, but I can't let him know that! _The air was tense as the two of them stood there, neither of them saying anything. Soon, however, Kaiba turned away from Serenity.

"Uh… wait! I'm sorry! It was an accident! I was just stretching my arm and oops! Funny how things like that happen, but, hey, it's nice to see-"

"Quit babbling," Kaiba said calmly. "If you've got something to say, say it."

Serenity was quiet for a moment. This was a new side of him. "Kaiba…"

"What?" he asked, starting to sound annoyed.

"Uh… I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Kaiba sighed and put a hand on his forehead.

"No, don't be. Say or don't say whatever you want." He lowered his hand a little. "And you don't have to, you know, 'stay away', I… aw, just hit me again if you're angry!" Serenity looked surprised to see him like this.

_I think… Is he…? He's trying to apologize for this morning, isn't he? Maybe that's why he came out here to meet me. So… does that mean… the other day after school…I think he was trying to apologize to me then, too._

"I'm sorry." Kaiba faced her again, looking surprised. "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I only hit you 'cause I thought you were a stalker."

"Oh great," he mumbled sarcastically.

"So you see, it wasn't because I'm mad at you. That's not it at all! In fact, I really like you." Kaiba looked even more surprised than ever now. "I've always liked the cat from the zodiac. What I mean is… I hope… maybe… we can be friends?" Kaiba looked really surprised, then remembered his conversation with Solomon.

"_Someday, you're going to meet someone who truly wants to be your friend."_

Kaiba turned away from her again. "What are you supposed to be; some Year of the Cat fan club? Come on, let's go back," he said as he started to head back to the house. Serenity stood there for a moment with a smile before she followed him.

_I think I understand Kaiba a little bit better now. He doesn't always _mean _to get angry; sometimes it's just hard for him to say how he really feels. But deep down, I believe he truly _is _a nice person, even though he tries to hide it most of the time._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Kaiba, I hear you gave Serenity a bit of a scare while you were prowling around last night," Solomon said at breakfast. He then started teasing the cat with a little song. "_Kaiba's a stalker! Kaiba's a stalker!_"

"YOU ARE _SO_ FULL OF IT!" Kaiba snapped back. He then pointed to Serenity. "And you, next time you need someone to walk you home, don't look at me!"

"That's okay. Anyway I'd much rather see you here at the table like this more often. I'm glad you're eating. How do you like the food?" Kaiba took a moment to think about that, then noticed Yugi was looking at him oddly. "What do _you_ want?!"

"Nothing," Yugi said plainly.

"You were _staring_ at me!"

"No; just looking."

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything!"

"Do you like it?" Serenity asked again.

"No, I don't!" he snapped. The two of them both froze up at this awkward moment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity held up a deck of cards at school the next day. "Hey!" she suggested. "Why don't we play a round of Duel Monsters?"

"Well, then play it with that damn Yugi. I don't wanna," Kaiba said, sounding bored.

Mai smirked at this. "Running away from a challenge. What are you? Some kind of sissy?"

"Fine!" Kaiba yelled as he stood up. "I'll duel you! Just don't cry when you lose, Yankee. I was once the number 1 ranked duelist in the world."

"How about this; the loser cleans the entire classroom alone."

"Ah," Ishizu said with a sigh. "What a magnificent aura between these two." It was true; the tension between the two of them was nearly visible.

"Let's ask Yugi if he'd like to duel too!" Serenity suggested. "Yugi! Wanna play Duel Monsters… you're not here." She then realized that Yugi wasn't there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Yugi was out in the hall. Standing right in front of him was another girl.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, "I'm just not ready to be in a relationship right now. So… I think it would be best if we just-"

"No, don't say it!" she yelled, shaking her head. "Yugi!" She then made an attempt to hug him, but he caught her chest and pushed her back as gently as he could without letting her hug him. "I'm… sorry," was all he could say to her.

"It's just that… you were always so nice. I…" she then lifted her head up. "You really don't wanna get close to anyone, do you, Yugi?" she said. Yugi looked a bit surprised at her words. "You shut everyone out like you think you're better than they are! So what, I guess a normal girl like me just isn't good enough for you, is that it?" Yugi was quiet at that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Currently, Kaiba, Mai, Serenity and Ishizu were in a four-way free-for-all duel. So far, Kaiba was making some pretty tough moves.

"Well, looks like my Blue-Eyes White Dragon just took a big bite out of your life points," Kaiba said with a sneer.

"You cheater! What kind of cheap-ass tricks are you trying to pull?!" Mai retorted.

"What do you mean, tricks?! Those are the rules!"

"Let's see… you _can_ make direct attacks, right?" Serenity asked. She was still learning how to play, but she was doing alright for a beginner.

"Wait," Ishizu said as her necklace glowed. "Reveal face-down card. Shrink cuts your dragon's attack points in half. Now Mai can summon her Harpy Lady and destroy it thanks to her Rose Whip. Her life points are safe; _you're_ the one who loses them now." Everyone was silent at that move, then the spectators began to laugh a bit.

"Nice one, Kaiba!"

"How embarrassing for you!"

"You got beaten by a girl!"

"Aw, stick it! Come on, let's play again!" Yugi had peeked around the corner and noticed Kaiba spending time with all those other people. He then remembered the girl's words to him.

"_You really don't wanna get close to anyone, do you, Yugi?_

Yugi slipped back around the corner again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After school, Kaiba was running back and forth across the classroom with a mop. He'd lost thanks to Ishizu and Mai double-teaming him. Serenity and Yugi stayed behind, however.

"Duel Monsters? I've played in a lot of tournaments, but I can honestly say that I've hardly ever been able to just play for fun," Yugi said, in the middle of a conversation with Serenity.

"Mai and Joey showed me how to play not too long ago and it's really fun. I'm still just learning, though. You should play with us next time!" Yugi smirked a bit.

"So, it looks like Kaiba lost today, right?" Kaiba started to get angry again.

"Yes, but I'll still help him clean up," Serenity answered.

"No. A loss is a loss," Kaiba growled.

"You sure?"

"Don't worry about it; I'll win next time." He then pointed angrily at Yugi. "JUST LIKE I'LL WIN AGAINST YOU!"

"Wait, wait, I think I've heard this one before!" Yugi said with mock surprise.

"No joke, asshole! I _am _going to beat you; that's a promise!"

"I wish you'd stop making _your _inferiority complex _my_ problem."

"I swear, every time you open your mouth, it pisses me off!"

"And every time _you_ open _your_s, you sound like an idiot."

_They're fighting again? They can't even be in the same _room _together, can they? I guess cats and rats aren't _supposed _to get along, really, but the way they fight, there's gotta be a better explanation._

"_And then I'm gonna take my place as a true member of this group!"_

_Do you think… maybe… what he meant by _that_ was he's trying to beat Yugi, because then he thinks he'll be accepted into the zodiac! If that's true, then that means… the cat will be included with the other twelve animals! That would be wonderful!_

"I'm gonna break your pretty-boy face!"

_But, I don't think fighting is the best way to go about it._

"Um… you guys?" she started to say.

"That's it, let's go!" Kaiba tossed the mop aside and launched a punch at Yugi's head. He dodged and hit Kaiba in the chin with a strong vertical kick. He didn't go flying this time, he was just launched a foot off the ground and landed on his back. Yugi faced his fallen opponent with a sigh of disgust.

"I can't even stand to _look_ at you," he hissed before he walked away.

"Yugi…" But he'd already left the room.

"Damn it." Serenity looked back at Kaiba, who was now sitting up and shaking his head a bit. "Why can't I ever kick _him_ in the head for a change? Ah, but he really _did_ try to wring me out today. He must be in a bad mood or something."

Serenity was surprised; she could _never_ picture Yugi in a bad mood.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_I don't know; I guess it's 'cause Yugi's always so… polite,_ _you would never think he'd have a bad day. But if what Kaiba said was true, he might just be keeping his real feelings locked up inside._

She had just changed out of her uniform after work. She turned her head when she noticed two other workers talking.

"Hey, go check it out!" one said, "There's a real looker standing out front! I don't _remember_ the last time I saw such a pretty face like that on a boy!"

"Oh, listen to you!" the other said, "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"I wonder if that's…" Serenity said to herself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi was standing just outside the building, leaning against the railing. As he waited, someone's voice took him by surprise.

"Yugi." It was Serenity. He'd been waiting for her, but his thoughts had been elsewhere and he hadn't seen her coming.

"Hi, there. So, are you all finished?"

"Yes, but don't tell me you came all the way down here just to pick me up."

"Sure I did," he answered as he stood up. "It's not too safe for you to be walking alone at night."

"An escort two nights in a row! I have to say, you and Kaiba sure know how to make a girl feel special." Yugi bent his head down a bit, and Serenity looked slightly confused at this.

"Well, we should go," he finally said as he started to walk home.

"Wait, Yugi," Serenity said quietly, causing him to stop. She took that chance to catch up to him. "Um… I hope I'm not prying, but if there's something that's bothering you, you know you can talk to me about it if you want." Yugi looked over at her, surprised. "I'm sorry, it's just that anytime I ever had anything on _my_ mind that was bothering me, it always made me feel better to talk about it with someone-"

"Hey, lovebirds!" a man on the street said, pushing Serenity and walking by. "Go home! It's too dark for you kids to be out on the street!"

"Sounds like it's past _your_ bedtime too," a younger man walking next to him said.

"What are you, kiddin'? It's still early!"

Meanwhile the push had sent Serenity right at Yugi and… well… you can guess what happened next.

POOF

"Then again," Serenity said, "you don't have to. I wouldn't wanna talk to me either if I kept turning me into a rat."

"No, it's not your fault. _I'm _the one with the curse."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity had started to walk home, carrying Yugi's clothes in case he changed back. The rat in question was walking right beside her all the way, talking to her. "For years, living in the main house felt like living in a cage. Atem always liked to keep me as far away from… well, everyone as he could. But what _I_ wanted was to live a normal life, with normal people. I wanted to move in with Grandpa and enroll in this school. I wondered why he let me go at first, but I soon found out. I could leave the house, but leaving the cage… that wasn't so easy. No, I'm still part of the Zodiac and I'm still Atem's brother, and no matter how much I might want to, that's something I can never change. I'll always be… different. I know that. And what scares me is that… if I get too close to someone, they might realize that too. Not like Kaiba. He's shy when he first meets people, but after he gets to know them a little, he can open up to them. Be himself. Because of _what_ he is, Kaiba can never be accepted into the zodiac. Bust isn't it better that he _can_ be accepted by normal people for _who_ he is? _That_… is exactly what _I've_ always wanted. I guess _that's_ why I get so angry with him; because he can't even see what he has. He's blinded by that foolish desire to join the very same group I've spent my whole life trying to run away from!"

"Yugi, people _do_ accept you, a lot more than you know. I mean, just think of all the girls at school who like you. They _always_ talk about how nice you are."

"But that isn't me. You say they accept me because I'm nice. Well, I only act really nice because I want them to accept me, not because it's how I really feel. I'm not a _good_ person, I just… it's selfish." Suddenly thunder rumbled overhead and it started to rain.

"The weather didn't say anything about rain," Serenity commented. "But what's a day without surprises, I guess."

POOF

"This is bad," Yugi muttered. Luckily, Serenity looked away just in time. She looked confused about what he said, though.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yugi, what is it? Where are we going?" Serenity asked as they walked through the woods together. Suddenly, both of them stopped and she took a look around. "A field?"

"No, just a little vegetable garden I take care of."

"Then… did _you _do all _this_?"

"Uh huh. This is my secret base."

"Wow! It's even better than I pictured! So you came here to try and protect it from the storm, right? I'll help if I can. Just show me what to do!"

As the two of them tossed a tarp over the garden, Yugi turned to face Serenity. "Serenity, _you're_ a good person," he said. Serenity was a little shocked by the praise.

"Who, me? You really think so? No one's ever told that to me before. Thank you so much! But maybe _I'm_ only being nice so _you'll_ like me! Maybe _I'm_ just being selfish!"

"I don't think you could if you wanted to," he answered with a smile.

"I don't know about _that_. Mom said everyone can be selfish sometimes. But then again, she also said it's always better to give them the benefit of the doubt. No one really starts out kind. All we know how to do at first is want. We _want_ food, we _want _attention, it's just natural survival instinct, I guess. But kindness is something we all have to learn as we go. It's something that grows and develops slowly overtime, the same way our bodies do. So kindness can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes." She then remembered something her mother once said to her.

"_True kindness isn't something we're born with. It's something we have to work at. We have to mould it, shape it within ourselves, not everyone has it. But I think everyone has the potential sometimes. You just have to look really close before you can tell it's there."_

"Ever since mom told me that, I've always tried to look for the good in everyone. It's hard sometimes, but it's worth it, because I get to see all the different shapes that kindness can take. For example, I think yours is sort of like a candle." Yugi was confused at that, so she continued. "Whenever you're around, you seem to bring just a little bit more light into the room. Everything's brighter and it just makes me wanna smile. Oh, but now you're looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Uh, no. I'm sorry; it's just… uh… I guess I'm not used to talking like this."

"But I'm glad that we are. When you're comfortable enough with someone that you can share your feelings, I'd say that's usually a pretty good sign that you're getting to be closer friends." The two had a period of peaceful silence except for the steady rainfall when suddenly a bit of the tarp that Serenity was holding came loose. "Whoops! It got away from me!" she said as she held it back down. "I guess _that's _a good sign to show that I should stop talking and protect the base!" She remembered more of her mother's words.

"_It's not always easy to see the good in people, Serenity. In some people, you might even doubt it's there at all. But if you can somehow find a way to believe, sometimes that's all it takes to help someone; to give them the strength to find the good in themselves."_

Pretty soon the storm cleared up. "Yay! We saved the base!" Serenity cheered.

"Yes, but we _are_ a little worse for wear, aren't we," Yugi commented.

"Maybe we should pick something while we're here, you think?"

"Um… I guess the leeks are ready."

_Leeks. Urgh._

"Serenity, I've been thinking. Next time you play Duel Monsters, can I play too?"

"Sure, of course you can. You just didn't seem too interested before."

"Well, I… when I saw everyone together like that, I guess I let my shyness get the best of me. But next time, I'd like to join in. I'll keep trying; maybe I can still learn to open up more."

"That's wonderful! I'll introduce you to Mai and Ishizu; they're really great! And I _know_ they'll both be excited to meet _you_. I mean, I think Mai's always looking for another victim to beat at Duel Monsters."

"Thanks for the warning," Yugi said, with a sincere smile. The two of them both had a period of peace together.

_I think that's the first time I've ever _really _seen Yugi smile._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The next day, Kaiba looked extremely disgusted by the food Serenity had made.

"Eat up, everyone!" she said with a smile.

"Are you crazy?! I _hate_ leeks!" Kaiba yelled angrily.

"And onions, and miso, and… am I leaving anything out?" Solomon said, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Hey, miso's okay as long as it's soup," Kaiba protested.

"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't know. I can make something else for you if you want; just tell me what you like." Yugi, however, had other plans. He pinched Kaiba's nose closed, forcing him to keep his mouth open, and stuffed in some leeks using some chopsticks.

"Just eat," he said with a sigh.

_It really is a shame that these two can't get along better. I have to wonder how it would be if Kaiba knew that Yugi admired him a little bit. Who knows; I'll bet there's even something about Yugi that Kaiba admires._

Solomon decided to cut in. "Um, Yugi? Kaiba's already passed out."

_If they could just understand that, maybe there's a chance that they could actually stop fighting._

Serenity tried her best to picture it.

_At the seashore at sunset, two figures stood, their hands clasped together. It was Yugi and Kaiba._

"_You know," Yugi said, "all this time I just misunderstood you. I'm sorry."_

"_No, please," Kaiba said, "_I'm _sorry. From now on, let's be the best of friends."_

_On second thought,_ she thought, _that's a little scary._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: Next up is one of the funnier episodes. I'll post it as quickly as I can.

Next time: Episode 4 – Here Comes Vivian!


	5. Here Comes Vivian!

A/N: This is one of the funnier episodes, and it also introduces a new character. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Please…

**Card Basket**

_Episode 4 – Here Comes Vivian!_

The ground started to shake that morning, as if an earthquake had hit. The rumbling, however, was closest to a certain small house in the middle of the woods. Serenity looked up as the ground shook, confused. Yugi and Solomon didn't react too much, though.

"What _is_ that?" she asked.

"Sounds like she's here early," Solomon replied.

Kaiba screamed and looked like he was about to get run over by an 18-wheeler.

"Oh, I didn't know you were expecting anyone," she replied.

The door slammed open and Kaiba jumped, trying to run away. Solomon, however, grabbed the back of his purple shirt. He kept trying to run, but the older man had a firm grip on him, so he was just running in place.

"Not so fast, Kaiba."

The ground finally stopped shaking and Serenity checked the front door. "Hello? Strange, there's no one here. But I remember closing that door. So somebody must've-" She was surprised, however, by somebody suddenly showing up, peering inside the door. She was a tall girl with long black hair with two pink bunches in it. She was wearing a long yellow dress and when she finally spoke, she was very quiet.

"Are you Serenity Wheeler?" she asked.

"Uh… yes," Serenity answered, slightly unnerved by this girl.

"Oh… well… that's good… I mean… um…"

"Yes?"

The other girl pushed her bangs off her face, revealing innocent-looking brown eyes. "I'm Vivian. That's my name… Vivian Wong," she muttered.

"Vivian Wong," Serenity repeated. "Hi."

_Wow, what a pretty young woman!_

"Please, I… I heard that Seto was here, and… please tell me it's true! Is he?"

"Seto?"

"Yes. Seto Kaiba."

"Oh, yes, of course Seto's here. Would you like to come in and see him?"

Vivian gasped a bit as she peered in. "Seto?"

"Vivian!" Kaiba screamed, looking scared.

"I don't believe it! It's… it's really you! Seto! Seto!" she yelled as she ran towards him like a love struck puppy.

_I wonder, quite a few people could find their way out here, I guess, so it could just be a coincidence, but maybe… maybe it means _she's _one of the zodiac animals too!_

"Seto!" Vivian came right up to him. He tried to stay as far back as possible, but Solomon still had a firm grip on him. "Why did you run away for so long? You didn't call me or send a card…" Kaiba was really twitching now. "Where were you? Oh, darling… I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

With that, she landed a hard punch on the side of Kaiba's face. Serenity grew pale at this. Kaiba went flying right through the closed side door while Yugi just looked the other way, uninterested. Vivian charged out the broken door, Solomon inching over a bit to get out of her way. Outside, Vivian grabbed Kaiba's ankle and started swinging him around. "YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK!"

Yugi looked out the broken door, watching Kaiba getting swung around. "Well, it looks like we're going to be needing another new door, doesn't it?" he said.

"Sometimes it feels like the whole world is conspiring to destroy my house," Solomon muttered.

"I'm… sorry…" Serenity said, still stunned.

"Oh, I was just kidding. This is normal; it's Vivian's way of showing affection."

"I never would've guessed. So then… from the looks of it, she must really like Seto a lot."

Yugi finally spoke up again. "Vivian _does _have a tendency to get carried away with her emotions. It's especially true when she's around Kaiba. She's two years older than me."

"And she's also part of the zodiac," Solomon finished.

"Oh, I knew it! That's great! Which animal is she?" she asked.

"I figured that would've been obvious at this point," the older man said. Serenity looked back outside, watching Kaiba get hit with a flurry of punches from Vivian.

"I'm sorry… um… I guess I've been a little distracted." Kaiba collapsed on the ground and Vivian finally stopped.

"Seto! Darling, what happened! You're hurt! Oh no, no…" She then pulled him into her arms. "Speak to me! Who did this to you?!"

"Um… you, I think," Solomon cut in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door was now back to normal except for the hole in the middle. Everyone was inside around the table. Yugi took a sip of tea and Serenity sneezed in the awkward silence.

"It's cold in here," Yugi finally said.

"Yes, I noticed that too," his grandfather answered.

"I… I'm sorry," Vivian stammered, "but when I saw Seto, I got so happy, all my love just came out at once. I couldn't help it," she finished. Tears came to her eyes and she sniffled a bit. Serenity noticed this and looked slightly confused.

_It's like she's become a totally different person._

"But it _is_ really your fault too, Seto." The boy in question was holding a wet cloth to the cheek that she'd punched earlier and looking very angry. "If you'd just remembered to call me, you wouldn't have made me miss you so hard."

"Who says I forgot? Maybe I didn't wanna call you," he muttered bitterly.

"Don't be silly. Yes, you did. We _are_ getting married after all." Serenity looked surprised and happy at this.

"Since when?!" Kaiba roared.

"You mean you don't remember? When we were kids, you asked me to marry you."

"Only 'cause you were gonna _kill _me if I didn't!"

_In a flashback, a five-year old Vivian held a large boulder over a five-year old Kaiba. Vivian looked murderous, and Kaiba looked scared out of his wits._

Serenity decided to cut in. "So the two of you are engaged?! That's wonderful!"

"At least now he'll have someone else to fight instead of me."

"Congratulations."

"You guys!" Kaiba yelled.

"We really _do_ make the best couple since we're both members of the zodiac. Well, Kaiba's not officially a member, but he's still cursed, so it's almost the same. We can still understand each other in a way no one else can. And that's good," Vivian said as she pulled Kaiba into a strangling hug, "The best thing is we can hug each other all we want and we don't transform." Kaiba was gasping for air at this point.

"I don't believe it!" Serenity said, shocked. "Seto didn't turn into a cat!"

"See?" Vivian said as she left Kaiba and hugged Yugi. Yugi blushed, but said nothing. "It's okay for zodiac members to hug."

"And why is that?"

Yugi spoke up, still blushing. "It's a mystery to us too," was all he said.

"Though we've seen it enough to know it isn't just a fluke with Vivian. She's one-of-a-kind, but not the only girl in the zodiac," Solomon said as Vivian let go of Yugi.

"Really?! There are more girls? Do you think I'll get to meet them someday?"

Vivian ran right between the two of them to reach Kaiba, who was lying on the ground. "Seto, please tell me, and be honest! Do you love me? Do you hate me? Because I love you! I do; more than anything else in the world! I'll prove it! I'll cook for you everyday! I'll do anything! Even if you cheat on me, I can forgive a one-time fling! No one else loves you this much, do they? No; just me! We should _always_ be together, don't you think?! I JUST _TOLD _YOU WHAT YOU THINK, NOW SAY SOMETHING, DAMMIT!" She grabbed him by the collar and held him close. She hadn't realized that throughout her entire speech she hadn't even given him a chance to speak. Solomon just watched and sighed.

"Ah, this pains my heart. But moving on; Serenity, correct me if I'm wrong, aren't _you_ something of a cat lover yourself?"

"That's me! The Year of the Cat fan club!" Vivian got startled at this.

"Rival!" was all she said. Serenity just looked confused. Vivian raced up to face Serenity eye-to-eye. "But _I'm_ not going to lose! Serenity, what do _you _like best about Seto?! Because _I_ like everything! _Everything_!"

"Hey," Kaiba hissed, but she continued.

"The good things, the bad things, I love them all! I love Seto, no matter what! Even if he changes into his other for-" She stopped as Kaiba's hand went over her mouth.

"Shut your mouth, right now," he said threateningly. "One more word and I'll…"

"AND YOU'LL _WHAT, _LOVE?!" The tables turned quickly. Kaiba screamed as Vivian nearly snapped his arm in two.

"You should really call mercy, Kaiba," Yugi muttered.

"Oh, I almost forgot about the laundry!" Serenity said as she walked off.

"Laundry?!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity was busy taking some clothes out of the clothes-washer. "It's too bad I didn't get to hear which zodiac animal Vivian is," she said to herself. "Oh well, who knows? Maybe I can ask her myself one day. I do hope the two of us get to be friends."

"That's not _Seto's _shirt, is it?" Serenity was startled as she finally noticed Vivian watching her just outside the door.

"I didn't see you there!" she said, surprised. Vivian entered the room completely, right up next to her.

"So, is it?!" she asked. "Is that Seto's shirt?!"

"No, not yet. These are Yugi's clothes." She then indicated a small hamper behind her. "I haven't even started on Seto's yet, but they're next on the list."

"Don't worry; _I'll_ do it! If that's okay with you. It is, right?"

"I don't know…"

"I said _I'll_ do it! I really want to. So please can I?"

"Um… oh… well, okay, if you insist."

"Yay! Thank you _so_ much!" Serenity watched her as she ran off somewhere else, leaving the hamper behind.

"…Don't mention it," she mumbled.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Seto! Okay, take everything off!" Vivian had pounced on Kaiba just as he was trying to crawl out the door.

"Stop it! What are you doing!" he howled.

"Your laundry, silly! Now take off your clothes! Or do I have to wash you along with them?" She managed to pull off his shirt, but he slipped out from under her and landed on the lawn, still wearing his pants. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" he snapped as he ran through a small puddle and dove into a bush.

"Seto!" she wailed.

"Don't worry," Solomon said as he came up behind her. "I'm sure he'll wander back when he gets hungry. Vivian looked back after Kaiba and moaned.

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"Oh, what's the matter?" Serenity asked. Vivian came back, her head held low and clutching a familiar shirt.

"Why is Seto so mad at me?" she asked. "I don't understand." She then started to cry into Kaiba's shirt.

"You know, he might not really be angry. Sometimes he just doesn't-" She was interrupted by a gasp from Vivian.

"That stink! How could you let him wear this?! My poor, sweet darling!" she said as she started filling up the washer. "Don't worry, you'll have clean clothes from now on or I'm not the future Mrs. Seto Kaiba!"

"I guess if you don't need anything I'll just go hand up Yugi's shirts now." Vivian was too busy trying to figure out the washer.

"Let's see, how much detergent?" she said as she scooped some in. "Hmm, maybe a bit more. One more scoop for love." Serenity smiled a bit. "Ooh, better yet; the whole thing!"

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"Ah, there you are," Yugi said as he met up with Serenity. The two of them were alone together for the first time in a while. "Are you still going out to shop for dinner?"

"Oh, uh huh."

"I'll come with you."

"Sure."

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Meanwhile, Vivian had just set the dial for the washer and started up. She smiled as it started to shake. "Oh, yeah," she said as she left to go to the kitchen. She set a kettle onto one of the stove's burners and turned it on. "Perfect. Now when Seto comes home, we can have a nice, fresh cup of tea. Yay!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm guessing you've noticed by now, it would be sort of hard _not_ to, but Vivian has a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to Kaiba," Yugi said as the two of them walked home. "She's had her heart set on marrying him since we were little kids, for whatever _that's_ worth. It's pretty silly, I know."

"Oh no, not at all. I think it's amazing."

Yugi looked slightly confused. "You… do?" he managed to say.

"I mean, that kind of devotion is pretty rare, you know? To like someone so much for that long. It's really wonderful, isn't it?"

"I never thought of it like that," Yugi admitted.

"In fact, I think she'd be a great person to have as a friend."

"You should try. I think you'd be a good influence on her."

"I dunno about_ that_, but it's nice of you to say."

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Vivian was singing to herself as the washer kept going. Meanwhile, outside in a bush, Kaiba hid. He listened hard and finally heard what he wanted to hear. "Woohoo! No more smell!"

That meant that his shirt was out of the washer. "Finally," he muttered as he put his arms around his chest. "Now I've just gotta get my shirt back and I get the hell out of here."

Meanwhile, Vivian was holding the shirt that Kaiba had been talking about. "Maybe I should ring it out a little, to help it dry faster." She wrung the shirt as tightly as she could. "DRY, DAMN YOU!" However, she wrung it too hard and it tore. She stared at the two halves in her hands. Kaiba peered around the corner right at that moment.

"Tell me you didn't just do that!" he yelled.

"My love!"

"My shirt! And I really liked this one, too!"

"I'm sorry, darling. I promise I'll fix it right away! Here, you can wear this one until then," she said, holding a wet black shirt.

"It's soaking wet!"

"But that's because I washed it for you."

"Is there anything of mine you _didn't_ wash?!"

"…Your pants."

"What am I supposed to do now, go around half-naked?! You want me to get pneumonia, is that it?!" Suddenly the two of them noticed a large mass of detergent bubbles filling the room. Solomon noticed this and decided to ask.

"Vivian, how much detergent did you use?"

"All of it!"

Solomon understood what was going on now. He then paused to sniff the air. "Is something burning?"

"Oh no! The tea!" Vivian finally remembered it. In the kitchen, the kettle was whistling and shaking, and steam was coming out everywhere. Vivian grabbed the kettle's handle, but screamed and dropped it because it was so hot. It ended up setting the counter on fire. Kaiba was wearing half of his torn shirt and tried to use the other half as a fan to put out the fire.

"Coming through," Solomon said quietly. Kaiba looked but didn't have time to get out of the way as the older man turned on the fire extinguisher.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Solomon was chuckling as all three of the people in the room were coloured white from fire-extinguisher foam. "Don't we look lovely," he commented.

"I can't believe you're laughing," Kaiba muttered coldly.

"Oh, right. Now I'm mad."

"I… I'm sorry," Vivian whimpered. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I know that, Vivian."

Kaiba couldn't take it anymore and just snapped. "You _still_ did it!"

"I'm sorry… I really am… Please, Seto… I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, so what?! Sorry isn't gonna get us a new kitchen!"

Vivian whimpered a bit more, then turned the tables again. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!" This time it was his back that she nearly snapped in two. Kaiba screamed and Solomon just watched.

"Ooh, it hurts to look."

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Serenity and Yugi were shocked at the site of the kitchen as Solomon tried to explain what happened. "Well, you see, it… it's a long story."

"That's alright, grandpa. I think I can guess what happened."

"Uh… I'll help you clean up," Serenity offered.

"I can do it," Vivian said quietly.

"But it's too much work for you all by yourself."

"No, please! Let me do it! I want to! It's my fault the kitchen's like this!" she insisted.

"At least she's being consistent. She wouldn't let me help, either."

"Please; it's okay. I'll do it all."

"Well, if you insist."

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"Do you really think it's okay to leave her in there?" Serenity asked at the table.

"Don't worry," Yugi said reassuringly. "She's always been resilient. I'm sure she just needs some time to herself."

Solomon sighed and spoke up. "Of course, the real crisis is that we won't be able to cook any dinner while the kitchen's wrecked. I guess we're just going to have to grit our teeth and call for take-out. And I was _so_ looking forward to another one of Serenity's delicious home-cooked meals."

"So, where'd the other home-wrecker go?"

Solomon just pointed up, signaling that he was on the roof. "He's still busy sulking, I think. We'd probably do our best to keep our distance for a while." Serenity sighed a bit at this news.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think I'm going to burst! Full, full, full!"

"What about you, Serenity?"

"I couldn't eat another bite!" She then noticed two un-opened boxes of food. "Oh, but what about Vivian and Seto? We shouldn't let their dinners get cold."

"So, let's see," Solomon said as he stroked his chin. "Am I brave enough to go look for Kaiba just yet? Hmm… no. But I _think_ I can chance the kitchen." Serenity stared off into space, deep in thought.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vivian was still hard at work, cleaning the kitchen. Solomon entered as quietly as he could. "You know, Vivian, we ordered you some dinner. I'm pretty sure it'll taste better while it's hot."

"Thanks, but I'll eat later," Vivian answered quietly, not looking up from the floor. "You can just leave it out there for now. How's Seto? Is he still angry?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Solomon replied. "He still hasn't come down from hiding."

"_You're_ angry at me too, aren't you," she muttered.

"No, I wouldn't say that. I'm not angry. Of course, I can't say I'd want to repeat this little incident."

Vivian stopped cleaning, for a moment, but didn't look up. "Solomon, please let me stay here, too. I don't think I can leave knowing that Seto is living here with another woman."

"Woman? Ah, you're talking about Serenity now, right?"

"No, I can't wait that long. I have to force Seto to make up his mind tonight."

"That's not a good idea."

Vivian finally stood up and faced him. "You don't know! You don't understand how a woman feels when she's in love!" she yelled.

"Yes, I do. At least, I've felt enough women to venture a guess." Vivian just looked confused.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, that's your cue to say 'Solomon, you perv!' and roll your eyes, slap me, whatever," he explained with a smile on his face. Vivian smiled and laughed as she understood.

"Solomon!" she yelled playfully as she balled one of her hands into a fist. "You big perv!" she added as she began chasing him around the kitchen slugging him in the back. The air outside was filled with Solomon's shouts of pain and Vivian's laughter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The half-moon shone outside and neither Vivian nor Kaiba had shown up to eat. Serenity came downstairs in her pajamas and noticed that the kitchen was all cleaned up.

"Everything's so clean," she muttered quietly. She then noticed that neither of the two had eaten yet. "Vivian and Seto still haven't eaten their dinners. They must be starving."

Vivian, meanwhile, was outside fixing the door that she broke. "Vivian?" Serenity had found her hard at work and was a bit puzzled. Vivian didn't even look up.

"This'll take all night, I know it," she muttered as the tape she was using tore.

_Has she been working this whole time? _Suddenly a rumble was heard from Vivian's stomach.

"I'm so hungry…" she mumbled. Serenity headed back into the kitchen with an idea.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi, there," she said when she came back. She was holding a plate with three rice balls on it. Vivian finally looked up from her work and noticed Serenity. "Um… I made you a snack. I noticed you hadn't eaten your dinner yet and I thought you might be hungry. So I made you some rice balls with the leftovers. I hope it's okay that I served them cold. I can heat them up if you want."

"Uh… no," Vivian answered with a slight smile. "I like them this way." Both girls smiled as Vivian took one rice ball and ate it.

"Okay then," Serenity said. "Now why don't we see if we can't finish fixing this door." Vivian looked surprised. "I thought it might make the job more fun if we worked together."

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Good!"

"Before we start…"

"Yes?"

"Can I please have one more rice ball?"

"Sure!"

Solomon was watching them from one of the side doors, but he stayed silent. He smiled, then slipped back inside.

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Pretty soon, the two girls were almost done fixing the door. They were now just cutting up a few more bits of screen paper for material. "Hey, lookie, lookie!" Vivian said suddenly. The small piece of paper that she was holding looked like the head of a cat. Serenity giggled.

"It's a cat, right?" she guessed. Vivian just giggled a bit and gently put it on one of the door screens. "It's so cute."

"Uh huh!" she answered with a smile. Serenity held up a piece of paper that she'd cut out.

"Look, I made one too."

"What a rat!"

"You can tell?"

"Sure I can! It's adorable!"

"Why, thank you very much! I'll put it up right here."

"I'm gonna do another one."

"Alright, me too."

"Serenity, what are you gonna make?"

"Let's see… how about a dog?"

"Okay. Then I'll make… another cat."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Serenity?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. I hope we can be friends from now on."

"Yes, I'd like that."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity crept quietly back into the house so as not to wake anyone. She stared up at the ceiling, though, wondering if Kaiba was still up on the roof. She went back outside and put a ladder to the side of the house and climbed up. Sure enough, there he was. He was lying on his side, his back facing her. "Seto?" she said, startling him and causing him to whip around and face her. He'd put on a black shirt so that he wouldn't be half naked anymore. "You're not really planning on staying up here the whole night, are you?"

Kaiba pushed himself into a sitting position. "Better believe it! Vivian's still down there," he answered.

"You don't want her to be here?"

"What do _you_ think?" he snapped. "You see what happens when _she's _around. It's always like that. She's crazy. And she won't ever shut up about that marriage crap. I can't _stand_ it!"

"I think it's sweet," Serenity said. Kaiba just looked at her. "When you have someone who loves you as much as she does, you should really feel pretty lucky, y'know?" Kaiba faced her, looking deep in thought. "And I think every girl dreams of getting married one day; Vivian just dreams a little… _louder_ than most." Serenity then got an idea and climbed back down the ladder, leaving a very confused Kaiba behind.

"Here," she said when she came back. This time she was on the roof with him. She was holding a plate with three rice balls on it, and Kaiba looked at them curiously.

"Seto, you have a dream too, don't you?" Serenity asked. "To beat Yugi? Isn't that why you were up in the mountains for so long, training?"

"Hm? Yeah. Oh, guess the old geezer told you," he answered as he ate.

"That must've been really hard, being out there all by yourself."

"No, I wasn't alone. I was with my master."

"Ooh, a master? He must be really strong, then."

"Are you kidding?!" he said with a slight laugh. "He could flatten that sissy rat-boy in one punch!" He stood up with a proud smirk on his face. "My master's as strong as they come! He's part of our circle, but he's never treated me like the others do! He's been teaching me how to fight ever since I was a little kid! Sure, he put me through hell up there in the mountains, but those were some of the best days of my life! It's like every day was an adventure, y'know? I'd wake up every morning and ask myself 'what is he gonna teach me? How much stronger am I gonna get today?' It was great! Ah, listen to me. Even talking about it gets me pumped up!" He then noticed the look that Serenity was giving him and sat down, embarrassed. "Guess it would seem stupid to someone like you, huh."

"No! No, it's fascinating. I guess I really just don't know anything about fighting, is all. Not to say I'm not interested to learn! I mean, I _do _know a little bit. I have a couple of moves I can show you! Umm… let's see… Right Straight!" she said as she landed a punch on his arm. It didn't even seem to faze him.

"You suck," he said with a smirk. Serenity moved her fist away and took a look at it.

_I think I've discovered something else new about Seto, besides his first name. Underneath that angry face he usually makes, he's been hiding this little smile._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Seto! Darling!" Vivian called as she searched for him. She put her arms around him in a hug as soon as she found him. "Good-bye, my love!" she said. He was right in the middle of brushing his teeth when this happened. "Take care yourself 'till I come back!"

"Glad to see everything's back to normal," Serenity said as she stood outside the open door.

"Incidentally," Solomon started to say, "did you ever find out which animal Vivian is?"

"No, not yet."

"SETO, BE NICE OR I'M NOT GONNA KISS YOU GOOD-BYE!"

"Who needs it?!"

"THAT'S IT! SETO, YOU JERK! I'M LEAVING YOU, LOVE!"

Just outside, someone else showed up. "Hello, it is I! Your ever-reliable paper-boy! Come to deliver the news of the day!" To his surprise, Vivian charged right through the door aimed straight at him.

"This is bad," Solomon muttered. The two of them moved closer and closer until a cloud of yellow smoke appeared.

POOF

Luckily, Yugi was able to cut in before the smoke cleared and prevented him from seeing anything. "Thanks for your hard work," he said.

"Uh… don't mention it. It's my job. Sorry I was a little late this morning. Bye!" Yugi quickly managed to push him away before he saw. Serenity took a look to see what animal Vivian was. She was small and black, with a small snout and four hooves. Serenity smiled and picked her up.

"Hey, I just figured out what animal Vivian is! She's the boar!"

"Um… that's cheating, I think," Solomon answered sheepishly.

"Vivian, y'know, I think I'm beginning to understand better why you like Seto so much. He really _does_ have a lot of good qualities. And the more I learn about them, the more wanna see him the way you do."

"SETO, YOU TWO-TIMER!" Vivian yelled as she jumped in the air and kicked Seto in the face with her back hoof. He yelped in pain as Serenity (who was shaking nervously) and Solomon just watched.

"I thought she was going to forgive this little fling," Solomon said with a sigh.

"I'LL FORGIVE HIM AFTER I KILL HIM!" Vivian yelled back as she continued to kick him in the face.

"What the hell did I do?!"

"'Scuse me," Serenity decided to cut in. Vivian was now resting on Kaiba's back. "Maybe I should start over. What I'm trying to say is I hope I can be like you when it comes to finding the good qualities in all the people that I care about. They're not always easy to see."

"Well," Vivian said, quietly, "do you like _me_?" Serenity nodded.

"It's wonderful the way you find so many things to like about one person." Vivian sniffled a bit, and then…

POOF

She was now clinging to Kaiba's back, absolutely naked. "I don't know what to say!"

"Put some clothes on!" Kaiba yelled, annoyed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay! Bye-bye! Oh, and I'll bring you a new shirt next time I come over, Seto! Love you!" Vivian smiled and waved, saying her good-byes as she got ready to leave. Thankfully, she was now dressed. Serenity waved back, Yugi smiled, and Kaiba was facing the other way. All three of them had changed into their school uniforms.

"Good-bye! See you again soon!" Serenity called back. She stopped waving as she watched Vivian skipping away. Kaiba turned around as soon as he thought she was gone and noticed that Serenity was smiling brightly at him.

"Hey! What's that look for!" he yelled.

"Nothing. You're just so… lucky."

"Don't you even start! C'mon, we're gonna be late," he said as he started marching to school.

"Oh well," Yugi sighed. "There was such a commotion that I couldn't even do any gardening."

"Oh, right! The base! Those leeks you grew were delicious. Are you planting something new?"

"Yes; strawberries."

"Really? I can't wait! I _love_ strawberries!"

"I thought you might. That's why I'm planting them."

Serenity smiled warmly at this. "Thanks!" Just then, a familiar earthquake hit.

"SETO! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Vivian came rushing past them and tackled Kaiba. "I almost forgot to give you your good-bye kiss! C'mon! Pucker up! Kiss me!"

_All of a sudden, I feel like there are a few things I have to do. I'd like to learn more about Seto and Yugi if I can; the things they like, and the things they don't like. I think that might help me to understand them both a little bit better. And who knows? Maybe it'll help me to find all the good qualities I _haven't_ seen before._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: I _love_ this episode! It was especially funny to write!

Next time: Episode 5 – A Rice Ball in a Fruits Basket


	6. A Rice Ball in a Fruits Basket

A/N: Here's a sad chapter for a sad episode. I actually cried when I watched this one.

Disclaimer: I won't say it again, since I've already said it before.

**Card Basket**

_Episode 5 – A Rice Ball in a Fruits Basket_

"Let's see," Serenity said as she took a look around the school library. "I'm pretty sure this is the right section. Ah, here it is!" she said as she picked out a book. "'Fiery Spirit: The Inner Life of the Martial Artist,'" she read the title. "Sounds exciting." She then remembered something that Kaiba had said.

"_My master put me through hell up there in the mountains, but those were some of the best days of my life! It's like every day was an adventure, y'know? I'd wake up every morning and ask myself 'how much stronger am I gonna get today?' Even talking about it gets me pumped up!"_

"Okay, next stop, gardening." She then walked over to another section. "Oh, hey! This looks like a good one. '12 Steps to a Happy Home and Garden.'" She then thought about a conversation she and Yugi had.

"_Oh, right! The base! Those leeks you grew were delicious. Are you planting something new?"_

"_Yes; strawberries."_

"_Really? I can't wait! I love strawberries!"_

"_I thought you might. That's why I'm planting them."_

_I'm glad I got to know Yugi and Seto a little bit, but I'd still like to get to know them even better. I think I can, little by little, and learning more about things they like seems like a good start._

She then picked out another book. "'One Hundred Family Recipes'. I bet there are some great dinner ideas in here." She then went to the main desk. "I'd like to check these out, please." As the librarian looked them over, one of her teachers came in.

"Ah, Miss Wheeler, I've been looking for you. There's a phone call for you at the staff office. Come with me, please."

"Yes, sir."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is Serenity," she greeted as she answered the phone. "Joey! Hi. Uh…" she fell into a stunned silence as she heard what he had to say. Time stood still for her. She tried to speak, but she couldn't find her voice.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiba was outside the house after school practicing his punches. Solomon was inside as he listened to her news. "I just found out the renovations are done," she said quietly. He looked down from his newspaper, a little surprised. The side door was open, so Kaiba heard her as well. He stopped his training and looked over at them, confused. "I… uh… I got a phone call from Joey up at the school. He told me."

"Ah, I see. And if memory serves, you were planning to move back into the house when the work was done, is that right?"

"What renovations?" Kaiba demanded.

"Oh, I guess we never told you, Kaiba," Solomon explained.

"So what? Tell me now!"

"Well, you see," Serenity started, "after mom died I went to stay with my older brother Joey, but then I found out that dad got forced out of his house since he couldn't pay his rent and he was going to move in with us, so Joey thought it would be a good idea to have some remodeling done, y'know, to make more room for all of us so that he wouldn't be near me too often? So, he reluctantly went to stay with dad for a while the work was going on and I stayed here so I wouldn't miss school. Well, I didn't stay _here_ here, at least not at first; I stayed in a tent for a while, but anyway now that they're finished with all the construction it looks like I can go back, and-"

"Okay! Enough already!" he snapped, before realizing that he lost his temper again. "I get it," he mumbled as he looked away.

"I'm sorry, I just thought…"

"Don't mind him," Solomon cut in. "I think we caught him a little off guard with the news, is all. We've just witnessed a classic example of what I like to call 'misdirected rage'. I believe the technical term is 'being an ass'."

"You are so full of it!"

"I guess I can understand. This _does_ seem a little sudden."

"I suppose I should go get my things packed while I still have the rest of the afternoon. I'll try to be out of your way by this evening." Neither one of them noticed Kaiba boiling over again.

"Please, don't hurry on our account," Solomon insisted as Kaiba turned his back on them, crossing his arms. "Take as much time as you need."

"Thanks," Serenity answered as Kaiba quickly cooled down, "but I'm sure they could use my help straightening up and everything. And like the saying goes, 'never put off 'till tomorrow what you can do today'. She got up and opened the other door. "So I'll be upstairs if you need me!" She then noticed that she was face-to-face with a very surprised Yugi. The two were silent for a moment, then Serenity spoke.

"Oh, Yugi, thank you so much for everything you've done for me," she said with a bow.

"Uh… anytime," he said quietly. She then walked upstairs to her room. He watched her, then his grandfather spoke up.

"Hmm. A thousand perfectly lovely things you could've said, but what poetry spews from your mouth? 'Anytime'. Really, Yugi, I think that must be the most unsentimental thing I've ever heard, or at the very least insensitive. How do you expect to sustain any form of …" but Yugi didn't even hear one word.

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Serenity entered her room and closed the door quietly. This would be the last time she would ever be in it.

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The three boys were all downstairs thinking about Serenity's departure. Yugi was sitting at the table, Solomon was smoking a cigarette, and Kaiba was lying on his side, his back to the both of them. Solomon finally spoke up after taking a puff. "Aren't you going to try? Stop her, I mean."

"Why would I, grandpa? We've known from the start that she was only staying here 'till the remodeling was finished."

"Hmm. Well, even so, it _does_ seem stuffy in here, doesn't it?"

"Let her go," Kaiba hissed from the floor. Both others looked over at him. "We should've never allowed an outsider in this house to begin with." They were quiet about this.

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Meanwhile, Serenity was just finishing up packing her belongings. _I really thought wrong this time. I don't know why I thought I'd be able to go on living here with everyone. Oh mom, _she thought as she picked up her mother's picture, _I can be such a fool sometimes, can't I? Y'know, this reminds me of something that happened when I was little._

_There was this game that all the kids used to play; Fruits Basket._

"_You're an apple!"_

"_You're a banana!"_

"_You're an orange!"_

"_You're a watermelon!"_

"_Cherry!"_

"_Pear!"_

"_Peach!"_

"_Serenity, _you_ get to be the rice ball."_

"_The rice ball?! Ooh, that sounds yummy!"_

_I guess they were only trying to tease me a little bit, the way kids do sometimes, but I didn't know that then. The game went on, and all the other kids were called, one-by-one. Everyone was running and laughing, and the whole time I sat there smiling hoping that someone would shout out "rice ball!" so I could play too. Yeah, even since back then I've never been very good about thinking things through._

She picked up her bags from the now empty room sadly. _I should've known; there's no way I could've joined the others. A rice ball doesn't belong in a Fruits Basket._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"There's some fish left in the refrigerator, eat it soon so it doesn't go bad, okay? And you're almost out of soy sauce, so you'll need to pick some up at the store. Oh, and don't forget, they changed the day to pick up the garbage, so be sure to put it out on time. What else… Oh, here," she said as she handed the Mutous a slip of paper. "I wrote down Joey's address and everything, so if there's anything you can't figure out, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, Serenity," Solomon said gently, "You really _are_ too good to us."

"Not at all! I'm the one who should say that to you! Oh, and don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the curse, not even Joey. Cross my heart and hope to die."

Solomon nodded and Yugi spoke up for the first time during this moment. "Speaking of which, where's that cat?"

"I'd think you'd know by now. After all, sulking on the roof does seem to be one of the strange little ways Kaiba shows he cares. Anyway, good luck settling into your new home."

"Thanks!"

Serenity began the walk to her brother's house. She stopped for a moment and turned around, taking one last look at the house. Sadly, she turned around and continued to walk home.

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"Well," Solomon said, "as far as good-byes go, that went pretty good, I guess." He then noticed a package on the counter with a note attached. He read the note and smiled. "Although I'd be lying if I didn't say it left me feeling a little bit sad, too." Yugi didn't say anything; he just looked down at his feet.

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"It's nice to see you again," Serenity said quietly as she greeted her father. Joey hadn't come downstairs yet, so they were waiting for him.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon," her father said. "You certainly didn't waste any time." He then drank from the beer bottle he was holding, making her wince a bit, but she still smiled.

"Nice to see you again, sis," another boy said as he came downstairs. He had messy blond hair and was wearing a green jacket over a white shirt and blue jeans. His brown eyes gleamed as he smiled at his little sister.

"Joey, it's good to be back," she said with a bow.

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Serenity had gone up to her old room and had just finished unpacking her things. She still seemed a little worried, though. "I hope they found everything," she said to herself. "I probably should've stayed to make sure they had their dinner, at least." She then noticed that she was holding the books that she had gotten from the library.

"Hey, are you done putting your junk away or what?!" It was her dad. Joey had forgotten to get a bed set up for him, and he refused to sleep on the couch, so would be sharing a room with her for a few days since Joey's was too small.

"I'm sorry; I'm almost done."

"I swear, what's the point of moving into another house if I have to share a room with someone? Just put that stuff somewhere I can't see it," he growled as he left, closing the door behind him. Serenity shuddered as she heard him chugging down another beer.

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"Serenity! I'm starving. What's for breakfast?" Solomon said as he entered the kitchen. Yugi and Kaiba were currently trying to make it themselves and glared at him when he came in. "I forgot; our dear, sweet Serenity has gone, gone away."

"That sounded like you forgot on purpose," Yugi said, struggling to keep calm.

"No, of course not. That would be pretty despicable, don't you think? But you know, with Serenity gone it seems like all the fire has gone out of this kitchen, doesn't it? Suddenly it feels so cold and dreary."

"DAMN IT! YOU _ARE_ SAYING THAT ON PURPOSE, AREN'T YOU?!" Kaiba snapped. He tried to rush him, but the older man caught his forehead and pushed him back.

"In any event, consumed by grief though we are, we can't help but get hungry at some point. Which reminds me, Serenity left us a pot of her delicious beef stew in the refrigerator, yes?" Yugi had managed to find it already. "Perfect. Now, why don't you heat that up for us, Yugi?"

"You're joking, right?" Yugi answered.

"Of course. You're not too handy in the kitchen, are you? Well Kaiba, I guess that leaves you."

"Why do I gotta do it?!"

"No, no, it's alright. If you don't mind letting the last of the wonderful beef stew that Serenity put her heart and soul into get burned to a crisp, then neither do I. After all, I suppose burnt beef stew will be just as satisfying as burnt miso soup or burnt rice or burnt eggs or any of the fine burnt dishes Yugi used to make before Serenity fell into our lives. Ah, yes, we all seemed to do quite well on our charcoal-rich diet; I'm sure there's no reason we won't grow accustomed to it again." He then looked up and noticed that Kaiba had already started cooking.

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Pretty soon, the stew was ready to be eaten. At that moment, however, Yugi _had _to insult Kaiba. "I'd have to rate your presentation a 0."

"Fine! So do it yourself next time!" Kaiba yelled.

Solomon put his hands together for grace. "We thank you for this meal, Serenity, wherever you are." The other two boys also said their grace. Solomon took one spoonful and tried it, then smiled gleefully. "Ah, I'm in heaven!" The other boys tried it as well, and Solomon sighed. "And to think, two bright young boys couldn't keep the girl who cooked this delicious stew from leaving! Oh, the tragedy!"

"If she can go back to her brother's house, there's no reason for her to stay here, is there?" Yugi replied hotly.

He sighed again. "I'm afraid only our sorrow will tell us, as the long, lonely hours without her pass us by." Both boys now looked very annoyed. "And our only solace will be the few scattered traces of Serenity's presence left behind. Like this cute little strawberry towel, for instance. I found it still hanging in the shower. I have but to press it against my face," he continued as he did just that, "and the sweet scent of Serenity reminds me of happier days!"

POW

BAM

WHAP

CRASH

"You sick bastard!" Kaiba yelled. The boys now ignored him as he whimpered on the floor.

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"Hey! I found these socks in my drawer! Did you put them there?" Serenity's dad yelled.

"I'm sorry. Is that not right?"

"Do these _really_ look like something I'd wear?" he retorted, drinking some more beer. She hated it when this happened. It had never actually happened to her, but from what Joey had told her it was very unpleasant when their dad started to drink this much.

"I'm sorry," she said nervously, "I must've thought they were yours. I haven't stayed here in a long time and I must've gotten a bit mixed up."

"Oh, I swear, what's the use? Take a note; these are the bastard's socks. Remember that." She laughed nervously as he left. He then called her again. "Brat, get over here!" She knew what he meant when he spoke to them now. "Brat" meant her and "bastard" meant Joey.

"Coming!" she called back. With him it was best not to argue.

"Go get me another beer," he demanded. Serenity nodded and looked around, trying to find the beer. He sighed and took a bottle out of the fridge. "For future references,_ this _is where I keep the beer." Serenity sighed a bit as she remembered the original layout of the house. Her brother would always keep the beer in a cooler near the door. He rarely drank, however, and only had one and only on special occasions. Then she had a memory of Kaiba, Yugi, and Solomon from when she used to stay with them. She smiled a bit as she thought about them.

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Serenity crept into her room quietly, trying not to wake her already-sleeping father. She walked up to the window quietly and looked at the sky. _I didn't know there was a full moon tonight. It's beautiful. I wonder if Yugi and Seto can see this right now. Maybe we're all looking up at the moon together._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Meanwhile, Kaiba was in his usual spot, lying on the rooftop. He was looking up at the sky, watching the full moon.

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Yugi had just finished brushing his teeth and reached for a towel. He noticed Serenity's strawberry towel and thought about her.

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Solomon was reading peacefully in his study room, thinking about Serenity the whole time.

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The next day, Serenity and Joey walked to school together for the first time in months. Joey looked down about having to go back to school, and Serenity was extremely quiet. As they went inside, Serenity noticed someone familiar at the lockers. Kaiba looked over at her, a little surprised to see her.

"Well, hi there! Good morning!" she greeted.

"Uh, yeah, hi," he muttered.

"Oh, Seto, this is my brother Joey. Joey, this is Seto Kaiba. He just started going to this school while you were gone."

"Hey," Joey said, trying his best to be polite.

"Whatever," Kaiba said as he turned and left. Serenity was a bit down that she didn't get to talk to him more. Meanwhile, Joey was getting a little steamed.

"Hey! I was just tryin' to be nice!" he yelled after him. Kaiba didn't even look back.

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As the siblings walked down the hallway, they soon came across someone else familiar. Yugi was also a bit surprised to see her and Joey. "Good morning, Serenity. Nice to see you again, Joey," he greeted.

"And a good morning to you," Serenity greeted back.

"Nice to be back, Yuge," Joey said with a smile.

"I was wondering where you were. I didn't know where you'd gone until Serenity told me. For a while, I actually thought you might've been skipping school."

"Naw, I wouldn't do that. And I especially wouldn't without telling you first. I'll go on ahead. See you two later," he said as he walked off

"So," Yugi said turning to Serenity, "how's life at Joey's?"

"Oh, fine, I guess. Everyone's been really nice to me, so far. They're making me feel right at home." A downright lie, but she didn't want him to worry.

"That's good. Sounds like you're fitting right in."

"Uh huh!" The two of them stood together in the hallway, neither one having anything to say.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later on, Serenity quickly took notes in class. Kaiba looked bored as he stared out the window, and Yugi looked like his mind was elsewhere. _So, that's it,_ she thought. _From now on, I guess I shouldn't expect things to be the same between me and Yugi and Seto._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Oh, welcome home!" Solomon greeted as Kaiba stepped in the door. He was panting, and he walked off without a word. "'Hi, Solomon. It's good to be home.' Is that too much to ask?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiba lay down on the roof, watching the sky all by himself, thinking about Serenity.

"_I've _always_ liked the cat from the zodiac!"_

"_Right Straight!"_

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Yugi, meanwhile, was at his garden, also by himself, and also thinking about Serenity. He eyed the strawberry plants that he was about to plant as he thought.

"_Really?! I can't wait! I love strawberries!"_

"_You can erase my memory, but afterwards, promise you'll still be my friend?"_

He closed his eyes and stood up quietly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serenity entered the kitchen as soon as she got home. Her father and Joey were already there. "Oh, hello. I'm home for the day."

"Brat," her dad said, "a moment of your time."

"Sure," she said quietly.

"I've recently found out that you've been living in a house with three males, including a certain Yugi Mutou." Joey nearly spit out his soda.

"Serenity, is this true?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, confused as to how he'd found out.

"I had a detective agency do some checking up on you under a false name."

"I don't understand. Why would you do this?"

"I'm in enough trouble with the law already. It'd just get worse if someone else living in this house had a criminal record. At first I thought it would be a bit extreme, but then I though about how wild that mother of yours was in _her _youth. 'Like mother, like daughter', as they say, or so I feared." Serenity didn't even look up. Her father just sneered at her. "Don't you _dare_ try doing anything that reckless in the future. But tell me, living in a house with three males, I bet you had all sorts of fun, didn't you?" Serenity was shocked silent. Her _own father_ was calling her a prostitute!

A slap rang through the air, making Serenity even more shocked. Joey had walked right up to him and slapped him across the face. All three of them were silent. "You little bastard!" her father yelled.

"Don't you know how to do anything besides drink and act like a moron?!" Joey snapped back. "Sorry Serenity, it's the alcohol. When he only drinks a little he just leaves me alone, but when he drinks _this_ much you just can't put up with him."

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Serenity left the room quietly and closed the door behind her. She walked out into the hall and stood there, her head held low. Joey soon followed her out of the room. "Serenity," he said, startling her. She quickly turned around to face him. "You've gotta understand. No matter how much of a creep he is, he's still our dad and I still need to try and stop his drinking habits. I can tolerate a few beer bottles thrown at me and a few insults here and there, but you don't have to stay and put up with it."

"You want me to…"

"It's not that. I don't want to get rid of you. It's just that mom never put up with anything, and you are a lot like her. You get it? Mom would've gone to a place where she could be free from him. Dad would've said so to if he was sober."

"He would've?" Joey nodded.

"So, if you want to be somewhere else, go ahead."

"But, that wouldn't be right. How could I be anything less than grateful for what I have? I've been blessed with a mother who loved me, two wonderful friends, Mai and Ishizu, what more could I possibly want when I have people who care about me as much as they did? There are so many people who have been kind to me; Yugi and the others, and you. You've given me a place at your table, a roof over my head; I should feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have so much to be thankful for right here," she said, tears streaming down her face, "so where else would I rather be?"

"Except, I didn't think that leaving Yugi and the others would make me feel so… so lonely. There was still so much I wanted to learn about all of them. I wanted us to go on eating meals together like a family where I could talk to them about so many things; everything. The truth of it is… I didn't wanna leave them at all." Tears fell onto the floor now. "I felt like I belonged there. I wanted to stay in that house with Yugi and Seto and Solomon… I wanted to stay."

"In that case, why not come home?" Yugi had just shown up out of nowhere.

"Yugi?"

"Yuge, how'd you get in here?" Joey asked.

"Sorry about barging in, Joey," Yugi apologized. "The door was unlocked."

"Who're you?" their dad asked, staggering into the hall clutching a beer bottle.

Soon, someone else grabbed Serenity gently by the head. It was Kaiba, looking as calm as he could muster. "C'mon, let's go," he said.

"Seto? You're here, too?"

"Serenity, mind explaining what he's doin' here?" Joey asked.

"Oh, he's living with Yugi and his grandpa since he doesn't have anywhere else to go," she explained. She then got back to speaking with Kaiba. "But then… um…" he started to drag her off. "No, wait. Seto, I…"

Yugi turned to face Joey and his father. "I hope you don't mind. The door was unlocked, so we let ourselves in. Are Serenity's things upstairs?"

"Just one moment!" his dad argued back. "Who are you?! What is going on here?!"

"Don't worry; I'll be out of your way soon."

"I get it now. You must be two of the boys the little tramp was shacking up with. And I remember you now; you're one of my bastard son's friends!"

SMACK

"Wow," Joey breathed, "I didn't know he had it in him." Yugi had slapped Joey's dad right across the face.

"Don't you _ever_ talk about Serenity or Joey that way again, you low-life," he hissed. He was too stunned to say anything.

"Hey Yugi," Joey said, "can you tell that Kaiba guy that if he does anything to make my sister upset, I'll rip him to pieces?"

"I'll be sure to tell him; just be sure to leave some for me."

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"Uh… um… wait. Seto, how did you get here?" Kaiba finally stopped dragging her.

"What do you mean _how_? You left the directions, and what kinda stupid map was that anyway? I got stuck wandering around half this city looking for you with that damn Yugi!"

"_I told you, we're going the wrong way!" Kaiba yelled, "Now give me that map!" Yugi was busy keeping it away from him._

_They must've been fighting the whole way. And they still came to find me._

Kaiba then noticed that Serenity was staring at him strangely. "What the hell are _you_ smiling about?!"

"Oh, I… uh… I'm sorry."

"Uh, that's not what I meant to say. I, uh," He turned his back to her. "What I mean is… I just… you know, I… urgh, I don't even know why I'm doing this! It's just, for some reason, ever since you left, I've been getting pissed off about everything. And I couldn't figure out why, so it just pissed me off even more!" He then whipped around to face her. "And really, if you didn't wanna leave, you could've said so from the beginning! You ever think about _that_?!"

"What? But how do you…"

"We heard you; every word." She bowed her head, blushing. "Y'know, you _can_ tell people what you want. I mean, it's annoying if you do it _all _the time, but I'd say in your case, you could stand to speak up for yourself a little more; complain a little, get upset or something, let people know what's on your mind." A gentle breeze ruffled their hair. "It's what you've gotta do sometimes." Serenity then started to cry gently. Kaiba panicked a bit. "Oh, come on! What did I say?! Why are you crying?!"

"Can we go? Please… I just… I wanna go home. Take me back to the house now, okay?" He looked at her with a soft expression, then grabbed her hand when Yugi showed up with her belongings.

"So walk already. I'm not gonna drag ya the whole way there."

_Serenity was sitting all alone as the other children played Fruits Basket. Suddenly, she heard what it was she had longed to hear. Someone called out "rice ball!" so that she was able to play as well._

_It's true, mom, _she thought as she walked home, Kaiba holding one hand and Yugi holding the other. _I really must be the luckiest girl in the world. _Soon, she was able to see the house again, Solomon standing outside the front door with a smile on his face. _I think… I'm where I belong. Here, in this house, with my new family… it's so good to be home._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Another episode finished!

Next time: Episode 6 – Invincible Friendship?


	7. Invincible Friendship?

A/N: Here's another one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it again?

**Card Basket**

_Episode 6 – Invincible Friendship?_

"Um, as long as I'm going to be living here, do you think it would be alright if I told some of my friends where I am? I'm sure they'll really wanna know."

Solomon looked up from his newspaper at Serenity's question, looking slightly surprised. She wasn't finished, though.

"If that's okay," she finished quietly.

"So long as you don't mention anything about the zodiac and what not," he answered, "I don't particularly mind."

"Thanks so much," Serenity said with a smile and a bow as soon as the other two boys entered the room.

_You see, these guys have been living under a secret curse for generations. If they're ever hugged by someone from the opposite sex, they transform into animals from the Chinese Zodiac. It's hard to believe, but it's true. And, naturally, this is a secret they can't allow anyone to find out about._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"WHAT?!" Mai screamed in shock. Ishizu only looked slightly surprised, and Joey, who had already heard the news, wasn't surprised at all. "Not only were you living in a tent, but now you've moved into King Yugi's house?! Seriously?!"

"Yes, I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner; there was a lot that happened. But everything's fine now and they're all really nice people. So there's nothing to worry about," Serenity answered. The girls didn't seem reassured, however.

"This is definitely a bolt out of the blue," Ishizu commented. "I wonder; how will those annoying fangirls react when they hear the news?"

"I thought it was strange how you've been spending so much time talking to him and mullet-head lately. Now I understand," Mai said. Ishizu crumpled up the bag of potato chips she had just finished.

"Perhaps we should have them invite us over. I'd like to see for myself whether this is a suitable environment for you to be living in."

"Hey, great idea. Let's check it out right now."

"Hold on a moment, Mai."

"He's right. If we show up unexpectedly, they may not serve snacks."

"Another good point."

"Yeah, that's a good 2 for 2."

Mai looked over at Serenity again with a gentle smile. "Okay, so the three of us will stay over with you tomorrow night."

"It _is _a good idea. I haven't been over to Yugi's house in a long time! Don't get me wrong, I trust him with you. It's just that Kaiba that I can't trust," Joey said with a slight growl.

"Uh… wait," Serenity started to say. She was going to try and encourage them not to come, but she knew that she just couldn't. "Okay," she finally said.

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"_High school girls, high school girls! One, two, three, high school girls!_" Solomon sang as he cleaned the table. "Ah, I can't help but wonder what kind of girls these friends of Serenity's are."

"A Yankee and a psychic," Kaiba muttered. Needless to say, he was more than a bit surprised. Soon, they all heard the sound of someone at the door.

"Oh, they're here," Serenity said as she got up, leaving the three boys behind. "Hi! Come in! I guess you found the house okay?"

"No, we got lost," Mai admitted.

"I'm thinking this was a bad idea," Kaiba said quietly.

"Just don't do anything stupid," Yugi sighed. Kaiba growled at the smaller boy.

"That goes double for you, you damn rat!"

"Yes, all of us would do well to be careful while they're here. 'Cause I wonder; if any of them were to find out about the curse, what would happen? I mean, think. I think at the very least, Serenity would no longer be allowed to stay in this house." Solomon looked very solemn as he spoke. "But either way, something's bound to turn out! 'Que sera sera'! (1)" he finished with a chuckle.

"You just like hearing yourself talk," Yugi hissed.

"There's a dog in here." The boys tensed as they heard Ishizu speak up. The girls and Joey had just come into the room. "Over there." Just as she had said, there was a big, brown dog behind them, barking.

"Oh, yes, that's a dog!" Solomon said, still slightly tense. The three now had the same thing on all of their minds.

_Phew! That was a close one!_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"So these are my friends, Mai Valentine and Ishizu Ishtar, and my brother Joey. But then again, you already know him," Serenity said.

"Hey."

"A pleasure."

"Nice ta visit again."

"Yes, welcome, welcome! Please, make yourselves right at home! Nice to see you again too, Joey."

"Say, Mr. Mutou, right?" Mai started.

"Please, call me Solomon."

"Alright then. Solomon, this is your place, right? So, what do you do to pay the rent around here?"

"Oh, me?" he replied. "I'm a writer. Well, a novelist, actually." Serenity stood up in surprise.

"Did you say you're a novelist?!" she gasped.

"Why the heck are _you_ so surprised?" Mai asked.

"This is the first she's heard of it," Ishizu answered. Serenity sat back down quickly.

"Right. I really had no idea," she said.

"What was it again?" Yugi asked. "Fine literature or something?"

"That's right. This sort of story," he said, holding up a romance novel. Everyone in the room froze in either shock or surprise. "Oh, sorry. My mistake," he said as he held up a different book. "_This_ is my real work. This one here was just something I did for fun."

"So that makes it okay to write that dime-store smut?!" Mai snapped.

"You're a sicko, you know that?!" Kaiba added.

"Fer once, I agree with him," Joey grumbled.

"What were you thinking?" Yugi said with a sigh.

"That's amazing!" Serenity said, looking very amazed. "I mean, to think, I actually know someone as important as a novelist!"

"Careful, Serenity," Yugi said with a smile, "You don't want to inflate his ego too much."

"Like his head could get any bigger," Kaiba sighed.

_How wonderful! I just made another new discovery!_

"Well, enough about me," Solomon said. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselves? You could start by telling us how you met Serenity."

"What, you're serious?" Mai questioned.

"I'm sure we'd all like to hear, right boys?" Yugi and Kaiba just sighed at how hopeless he was acting.

"Mai saved me!" Serenity started, catching their interest. "'Hey, pinhead! You'd better not step on those, you…'" she trailed off as she noticed that she had forgotten to start at the beginning and everyone was looking at her strangely. "Wait, let me back up. This one time, in middle school I dropped all of my notebooks in the hall…" They were still looking at her strangely.

"What have I done?" Solomon mumbled to himself.

Mai broke the silence by chuckling a bit. "Yeah, I remember that. I guess I _could_ get a little rough back then."

"An' that's why I love ya," Joey added, giving Mai a little kiss on the cheek.

"Back then?" Yugi and Kaiba questioned, now fully interested.

"Well, you see, you were still a Yankee then, weren't you?" Serenity asked. The boys listened in, confused.

"Right. I started running with them in the fifth grade."

"You always used to wear those masks all the time…"

"And I had my eyebrows thinned out, and wore those long skirts…"

"You're forgetting you do all of those things now, Mai," Ishizu said, finally speaking up again. She was currently reading that romance novel.

"I guess you're right," Mai said. She and Joey burst into laughter at the coincidence.

"That's lovely," Solomon said, "She's so… how I say it? By putting into words, I'm afraid the nobility of it all would only be obscured."

"Of what?" Yugi asked.

"You know; she's so spunky!"

"You sick bastard," Kaiba hissed.

"How sad, love doomed from the start," Ishizu commented.

"You're reading that?" Mai asked, surprised.

"That silly little thing? Oh, I'm flattered! So, what do you think?" Solomon asked, looking very cheery.

"You don't want to know what I think," Ishizu said quietly.

"Oh, no?"

"But, when is Volume 2 coming out?" she asked.

"Can we just knock it off with the books, okay?" Mai asked, annoyed.

_Everyone's getting along so well! It's so nice that we can all have a good time together like this!_

Serenity then stood up abruptly. "I know! I just thought of something fun we could do! I'll be right back!" she said as she left the room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So then, Ishizu, you never told us how you and Serenity got to be friends," Solomon pointed out.

"Are you _sure _you're ready to hear?" Ishizu said quietly.

"Oh, uh, that's okay, as long as you're friends now!" he said, starting to get slightly spooked. "That's what's important!"

"We were in middle school, and I was transferred into Serenity's class."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yes. You see, at my previous school, I had caused something of a disturbance." The boys in the room (minus Joey, who'd already heard the story) all got spooked by that.

"Well," Solomon said quickly, "that is a wonderful story, isn't it? But I just remembered I had some work to do. So if you kids will excuse me…" he then left the room as well.

_He ran off._ Yugi thought to himself.

_Ran the hell away. _Kaiba thought.

"I gotta say," Mai started, "I didn't know what to make of all of this when she told us, but it looks like Serenity's fitting right in here. I'm happy for her, and I guess I can understand why she didn't want to say anything at first. But still…"

"We made a promise over her mother's grave, that when the time came, we would be there to help each other, no matter what. That probably sounds a little bit overdramatic, but it wasn't really, for us. After all, Serenity was our first real friend and everything."

"Serenity… Serenity and her mother both… you see, they were there for me when I needed someone most. They also were the ones to introduce me to Joey. At first we didn't get along too well, but soon enough, we became friends too, and now we're in a steady relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Thanks to them, I was able to find the strength to climb my way up out of all the crap I'd fallen into. They helped me to believe in myself; that I could change if I wanted. And when I met the three of them, for the first time, I discovered that I _did_ want to change. I wanted to be someone Serenity could be proud to call her friend, the way I was proud to call her mine.

"So this time around, with everything that's happened, the fact that I wasn't there to help Serenity, _that_ bothers me. I mean, that she would even _think _she had to go through all this trouble by herself. Maybe she doesn't think she can count on us. Or maybe we're just not that good as friends."

"Nah, I just don't think she's the kind of girl who worries about stuff like that," Kaiba said quietly.

"Serenity is… she's the kind of person who puts other's well-being before her own," Yugi added on. The others were surprised by this, and then the door suddenly opened.

"Sorry it took so long!" Serenity said with a smile as she re-entered the room. "I hope you're all ready to play! I finally managed to find my deck!" she added, holding up a deck of Duel Monsters cards.

"Ah, that's a fine idea, Serenity!" Ishizu said.

"Okay! How about we pick it up where we left off? I don't think I got to finish making a fool out of mullet-head here!" Mai said with a smile.

"I'll play too!" Joey cut in. "I'm gonna enjoy wipin' the floor with you, Kaiba!"

"Yeah, talk it up! And this time, when I win, you two have to dye your hair black!"

"Oh?!" Joey taunted, "Well, when you lose, you have to comb all of the gel out of your hair and leave it flat!"

"It's naturally this style!"

"Is that right?" Ishizu added in.

"That's right!"

"Yugi," Serenity said, "would you like to shuffle my deck?"

"Um… I…" he was a bit nervous at first, but then he smiled at her. "Sure."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You rotten little… you cheated with some of your cheap-ass tricks!!" Mai screamed angrily.

"Cheap nothing! You're the one playing tricks, Yankee!" Kaiba howled. The two of them ended up face-to face, both looking murderous.

"Next time you pull that crap, I'm going to lighten you up!"

"Go ahead and try! It'll be the dumbest thing you ever did!" he yelled as he stood up. "I'll take you out!"

Mai got up and stood in front of him. "Oh yeah?! Some tough guy! You're running away!"

"Who's running?! I'm going to the bathroom!" He kept trying to move forward, but Mai would always step in his way.

"Aw, gotta take a leak?"

"What's it to you?!"

"Better hurry; we don't want you to piss yourself!"

"Damn it, you've got a foul mouth!" He tried moving forward again, but he accidentally bumped into her, and her arms partially went around him.

POOF

Mai was a bit dazed by the smoke, Serenity and Yugi got worried, and Ishizu looked over, not seeming startled. Joey got up and helped Mai get to her feet. She then started looking around, confused as to where Kaiba had gone.

"Something wrong, Mai?" Yugi asked.

"Uh, no." She didn't seem to notice Kaiba's clothes on the floor, or a small brown cat wriggling his way out of them.

"Ah, well that's good. Things sounded like they were getting pretty heated there for a minute." Kaiba's shirt, with a small lump in it, moved towards the open door, and the cat jumped out the door and hid.

"I know!" Serenity said. "How about, until Seto gets back from the bathroom, we play a quick game with only 1000 life points."

Mai was still a bit startled by what had happened. "Yeah, sure, let's play." However, she slipped on Kaiba's pants, which was still on the floor.

"Mai!" Serenity got up quickly and slipped on a mat. Yugi, noticing this, raced over to her and dove underneath her.

"Serenity, look out!"

Ishizu was shuffling Mai's deck and didn't pay any real attention to what was going on.

POOF

When Mai landed, she, Joey and Ishizu took a look over at Serenity. None of them noticed a little black rat wriggling out of the clothes and scampering off.

"Serenity, are you okay?" Joey asked as the three of them ran up to her.

"Are you hurt at all?" Ishizu asked.

"No, I'm alright."

The three of them then looked down at the ground. Serenity was confused until she saw what they were looking at: she was holding onto Yugi's discarded shirt. Quickly, she wrapped it around her hand to make it look like a dusting mitt.

"See? I didn't fall! Just cleaning up!" She then proceeded to make it look like she was just cleaning the floor. Meanwhile, under the house…

"Stupid cat!"

"Damn rat!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Boy, mullet-head sure is taking his time," Mai commented.

"He sure is," Serenity said, trying to act natural.

"And Yugi just up and disappeared. Guess he's…" Joey started, but was interrupted.

"He's right. I wonder where our kind hosts have run off to," Ishizu said, sounding suspicious.

"For the love of… we can't wait anymore," Mai said. Serenity then noticed something; a small brown paw reaching for Kaiba's discarded shirt. Ishizu seemed to sense something as well.

"A cat," she said. Serenity desperately tried to come up with an excuse, but she didn't need to, since Solomon took that moment to reappear.

"Ah, so you're playing Duel Monsters. Is there room for one more?"

"Well, if it isn't the master novelist," Mai said. "You any good at this game?"

"Well, you should know, I taught Yugi everything he knows about Duel Monsters. I even showed Joey a few tricks."

"Really?! That's incredible!" Serenity said, surprised.

"I'll say. It's a lie," Mai commented.

"Actually, no," Joey cut in. "It's true. He's pretty good for an old man."

"But, enough about me, let's get playing!" The paw continued to reach for the shirt, when…

POOF

"Hmm? Did you guys hear that?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. Sounded like some kinda boom," Joey commented.

"There _was_ a definite boom," Ishizu said. Both Solomon and Serenity started thinking fast.

_This is not good! I think Seto just changed back to normal!_

_Unless we do something, they're going to see him! And what's worse, he'll be naked!_

_I know! For now, I'll just throw him Yugi's clothes! Maybe no one will notice._

_It doesn't matter! Anything to cover him up!_

_Seto!_

_Catch this, Kaiba!_

However, in tossing the clothes, a little accident happened. Solomon had grabbed one end, and Serenity had grabbed another. When they both threw at the same time, Solomon accidentally threw Serenity too.

_Why is this so heavy?_

He then looked back and noticed Serenity about to fall on top of him. He tried to get out of the way, but he was too late.

POOF

Everyone else immediately looked in their direction. All they saw was Serenity with her arms around the neck of a big grey dog. In order to make it look convincing, Solomon barked.

Serenity hugged him a bit tighter and he wagged his tail. "Oh, I thought you'd run away! I was so worried! I'm so glad you're back, um…" she then tried to come up with a dog name. "Blackie!"

_Blackie? _He thought to himself, then barked a couple more times.

"That's odd," Ishizu started, "it appears we've run out of snacks. I'll go find the kitchen," she added as she stood up.

"Hurry back! I'm starvin' here!" Joey called after her. She started walking towards the kitchen, but bumped into a now-human and now-clothed Kaiba.

POOF

_Oh no! Kaiba's just changed back and the idiot's already transformed again! Okay, I've got to cause a diversion!_

Solomon started running back and forth, barking like crazy, until a second POOF happened.

_Oh no! Not Yugi too!_

Thinking quickly he grabbed Yugi's clothes and tossed them over to him. He was still hidden, though, so no one saw him. Meanwhile, Kaiba was behind the door, panting and gasping.

"That was weird. I swear I thought I saw mullet-head in here," Mai said. Solomon jumped on Joey and started licking him to distract them. Yugi re-entered the room seconds later, adjusting his jacket.

"Serenity, I think Blackie's trying to tell us he's hungry, don't you?" he said.

"Yeah, that must be it! Here, c'mon, boy! Let's go to the kitchen!" Serenity said as she walked to the kitchen, Solomon walking after her.

"Wait," Joey said as she opened the door to the kitchen.

"Um… yes?"

"Could ya bring some more snacks?"

"Oh, sure!"

"You and your stomach," Mai sighed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm really sorry," Serenity said as the dog gobbled up some food. "I promise, the last thing I wanted was for use to cause everyone so much trouble.

"Hey, nothing to apologize for," he said between bites.

"I'm not so sure."

Solomon soon stopped eating and looked at her with a smile. "Serenity, if these people are important to you, then they're important to us too. Do you understand?" After a period of quiet thought, she smiled.

"Yes, I understand. Oh, but I'm sure Yugi's wondering where we are."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What could be taking Serenity so long?" Ishizu asked as they waited. The girls shot Yugi a strange look that made him feel slightly uncomfortable. They had a feeling he knew something that they didn't.

"Um… I'll go check on her," he said as he got up. Just then, Serenity ran through the door.

"Sorry I took so long…" she started saying, but she was cut off when she crashed into Yugi.

POOF

The cookies on the dish that she'd brought in went flying everywhere, as well as a little black rat.

_Serenity!_

_Oh no! Yugi!_

_Help!_

_Oh man! He got mixed in with all the cookies! I can't tell where he is!_

_Here, Serenity!_

_Where are you?_

_Here!_

_Let's see… cookie, cookie, cookie… oh, there you are!_

_Wait, Serenity! That's a…_

Too late, she caught it.

_Cookie!_

"Hey, nice catch, Serenity," Mai said.

"Although, most of them still fell," Ishizu added.

"It's okay; I'll still eat 'em!" Joey said, patting his belly. Yugi, meanwhile, was on the floor beneath some more cookies.

"Maybe it's a good thing she didn't catch me," he mumbled to himself. "She squeezed that cookie so hard it crumbled!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Solomon took a peek inside the washer and was disappointed to find no clothes. He, Yugi and Kaiba were still transformed, and they had been looking for some clothes to change into. "Hmm. I thought we'd at least find some clothes in here."

"So, it's empty then?" Yugi asked.

"Well, Serenity _is_ very thorough about doing the wash."

"Aw, hell with it! Just let them see us! All we need is to erase their memories and we'll be fine, right?" Kaiba snapped. He couldn't take hiding anymore.

"I suppose that's true, as long as you're okay with that."

"Okay with what?!"

"It would mean Serenity's memory would have to be erased as well," Solomon said sadly.

"And Joey and I might never end up being friends again," Yugi sighed. "I was lucky the first time; he had caught a cold and missed my birthday. This time won't be so easy."

After a period of awkward silence, Kaiba climbed out of the laundry basket. "Stay here! I'm going to get us some clothes!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRASH

CLATTER

SMASH

Kaiba came running out of Solomon's office with some clothes tied around his neck. He didn't know how he'd managed to do it, but he didn't care. He dashed down the hallway and down the stairs at top speed, but froze as he saw where he'd ended up; he was right in front of Mai and Ishizu. Neither of them noticed him, but Mai was about to accidentally bring her foot down on him.

Mai," Ishizu said suddenly, causing her to slow down. "You're about to step on…" Kaiba was too scared to move, so Solomon grabbed him by the scruff in his jaws and ran out the door into the bushes.

"Yeah? Step on what?"

"A brown cat, with clothes tied around its neck, being carried in the mouth of a dog," she said as she pointed out to the bushes. All four of them looked out to where she was pointing. "It went that way."

"One, two! One, two! One, two! Nothing gets the blood flowing like a rubdown with a dry towel!" It was Solomon, rubbing his back with a pair of jeans. "One, two! One, two! One, two! One, two! One, two!"

"Idiot," Yugi mumbled from a separate bush.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is a fine bed," Ishizu commented. Serenity and her guests were all in her room, getting ready for bed. Joey would be sharing a room with Yugi for the night, and the girls would all stay in the same room.

"Isn't it? Solomon bought it for me," Serenity explained.

"Well, from the looks of it, he must really think big of you, huh," Mai commented.

"That's what it looks like," Joey added in.

"As long as he's at it, this room could use a little more, you know, girl stuff," Mai said. "Like, right here, he should put in a big dressing table or something like that."

"Oh no, I couldn't. I couldn't think about wanting _more_. I'd be asking too much for it, really. I mean, I only just started to realize how lucky a person I am to have so much already, you know?"

_Serenity, if these people are important to you, they're important to us too. Do you understand?_

"I have a new home living here with them. And I have the two most wonderful friends in the whole world and a loving brother who care about me so, so much. Just knowing that I can always count on you to be there for me, and how much strength that gives me. I'm already so lucky. If I'm not thankful for what I have, I'd just be asking for it. I love you all."

_Nah, I just don't think she's the kind of girl who worries about stuff like that._

_Serenity is… she's the kind of person who puts other's well-being before her own._

"I guess they _do_ understand her," Mai said softly. "Pretty well, I'd say."

"That they do," Ishizu responded with a rare smile. "Serenity _is_ that kind of girl." The two girls and Joey pulled Serenity into a gentle hug. "Invincible love."

"That's right," Joey added in.

Late that night, the three girls, all in the same bed, slept peacefully with smiles on their faces.

"Right," Serenity mumbled in her sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Serenity was cutting up some food for breakfast the next morning, Kaiba was scarfing down some of his favourite food, milk, straight from the carton. He then stopped as he noticed Yugi standing right in front of him. The two of them looked at each other, tension in the air. All of a sudden, Kaiba decided to speak up.

"Um… Yugi, are you…?" Before he could finish, Yugi collapsed, clinging onto Kaiba's leg. Kaiba screamed in surprise and Serenity turned to see what was going on.

"Hello, Yugi! You're having a hard time waking up, as usual!"

"Yeah, yeah! Just keep moving, will ya?!" Kaiba snapped. Yugi slowly let go and walked off, still half-asleep.

"Wow, Seto! As much as you want to beat Yugi, you still don't try to sneak up on him when he's like this. It's very admirable."

"No, that's not it. It's not like that. He's stronger when he's half-asleep."

"Oh. So you _have_ tried to attack him then."

"Yeah, I tried, and I got beat up worse than when he's awake, okay?!" he snapped, crushing the empty milk pitcher. "Do you know what that means?! It means that stupid, dirty little sissy rat-boy's always holding back on me!"

WHAM

Yugi suddenly punched him in the face out of nowhere.

"What gives?! I thought you were still out of it!"

"Your stupid voice woke me up."

"Fine! I don't care anymore, damn it! Asleep or not, it's you and me, right now! I'm gonna mop up this kitchen with your face!"

"How can you even talk about this so early in the morning?" Yugi sighed with a slight yawn.

"A cat and a mouse," Ishizu sad, causing both boys to freeze. "_That's_ what they're like."

"You think?" Mai asked.

"The way they're fighting; it's like a cat and mouse. Just like the ones in that old cartoon."

"Yeah. Something-or-other and Jerry."

"That's right, these guys are still here," Kaiba whispered.

"So the two of ya don't get along too well, do ya?" Joey commented. "Since I've never seen Yuge that willin' to fight."

"I guess not," Yugi said with a sheepish smile.

"Even so, this seems like a pleasant enough house," Ishizu commented. "Which is good, because if it had been a poor environment for Serenity to be living in, there are many things I would have to do to correct it. Yes, many things."

"What_ kind _of 'many things'?" Yugi and Kaiba asked at the same time.

Ishizu ignored them. "But I can see that the two of you both have fine auras. Solomon, meanwhile, was eavesdropping on them. "Oh, you didn't know? That's even better, I think."

"Well," Mai said, "I'm sure you'll do your best to be nice."

"She means to Serenity," Joey added.

"Oh, Mai, Ishizu, Joey, thank you all!" Serenity said happily, tears of joy welling up in her eyes.

"We'll come by for another visit soon," Mai said with a smile.

"Yes, let's. I'm curious to learn more about your unique auras."

"Now, how about some breakfast? I'm starvin'!"

"Yes, I'm hungry too."

"Do both of you only think about your stomachs?"

"Hey, hey! You've gotta be kidding! Damn guests are taking over!" Kaiba roared.

"I know it may seem that way," Serenity said, "but they mean well. You'll see. Mai, Ishizu and my brother are really, really good people. So, please…" she stopped at his silence. He snapped away from her and scratched his head.

"Fine, whatever."

"After all, they are _your_ friends, and Joey's mine too."

"Right."

Solomon, meanwhile, had gone back to the living room and started reading his newspaper again. He smiled a bit, knowing that things were going to get better.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This was pretty funny to write.

(1) Que sera sera is Spanish for 'what will be, will be.'

Next time: Episode 7 – A Plum on the Back


	8. A Plum on the Back

A/N: Here's a new chapter which introduces some new characters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Please… no more…

**Card Basket**

_Episode 7 – A Plum on the Back_

_The cultural festival is only seven days away. You can imagine things have been pretty hectic at school lately. There's not much time left, but everyone's doing their part to get ready. That goes for my class too; first year D-block. We're helping out with the refreshments._

"Well," Yugi announced to the class. "The health inspections are all done, and we've gotten permission to open our rice ball stand. All that's left is to decide what flavor rice balls we'd like to sell. Please, if you have any suggestions, say them."

_Rice balls. Funny how some things keep… turning up. _Serenity then stood and raised her hand. "Well, what if we tried making three-flavored rice balls? We can use three different ingredients and they'll be like getting three rice balls in one. It could be fun!"

"That's a good idea," Yugi answered, causing Serenity to smile.

"Ew!" Katsu hissed. "I think you mean 'a disgusting idea'! No way!"

"Like if you wanted salmon and miso and pickled plums all mixed together?" Supatto asked.

Katsu grimaced. "That's the sickest thing in the world!"

BAM

A lead pipe went right into Katsu's desk, held by a very angry Mai. "It couldn't be any more sickening than your crappy attitudes, could it?" she asked calmly.

"Don't they have rules against bringing lead pipes to school?" Katsu whimpered.

Kaiba finally piped up from the middle of the room. "I say we make it a rice ball battle," he said.

"A battle?" someone asked.

"One-on-one, one round, no-holds barred. And even if they get bloody noses, or pull each other's arms off, they'll have to fight for the prize! Rice balls!"

"No way!" almost everyone in the room said. Serenity and Yugi stayed out of it.

"What about… a hit-or-miss?" Yugi suggested.

"Interesting," another girl said.

"We'll have a special offer. Anyone who buys three rice balls can choose a fourth for free. Only we'll have some misses mixed in that we can make with some strange ingredient or something."

"That's a great idea!"

"Oh, sure! So you're all just gonna follow what dumb idea _he_ says?!" Kaiba snapped.

"You can't call us followers for knowing a good idea when we hear it."

"Yeah, your idea was too weird."

"How so?"

"Who wants to get all bloody over a couple of rice balls?"

Yugi noticed how well Kaiba was fitting in with all the other students and he started to get a bit jealous again.

"Aw, don't get mad, Kitty Kaiba!" someone said, referring to what had happened on his first day when he jumped out the window and landed on all fours like a cat.

"Don't call me that!"

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

Yugi shrugged off his jealousy, but that didn't mean that Serenity didn't notice it. "I have to go to a student council meeting. Could you handle the arrangements for making the stands?" he asked the girl standing next to him.

"Sure! Just leave it to me!"

"Hold on! There's still something I need to ask you!"

"Yeah, right! Me too, Yugi!"

"I have a question for you about the stand…"

"Yugi, I have a question!"

As everyone started to speak up, Kaiba got more and more angry. Suddenly…

"Aw, look!" a girl said. Yugi and Serenity both tensed up. Somehow, Kaiba had ended up with cats all over him.

"Woah, how did they get in here?"

"And so many!"

"Seto?" Serenity tried to ask, but she was blocked out. "Oh no…"

Kaiba couldn't take it anymore. He screamed and ran out the door, the cats still clinging to him. "Damn it all!" Serenity was still a bit nervous, and Yugi just sighed.

"What a strange boy…" Ishizu muttered.

"Yeah, like _you're_ one to talk," Mai responded. "You're pretty strange yourself, you know. But he does have one hell of a violent temper, I'll give you that."

"Yes, he's quite rowdy," Ishizu agreed.

"The complete opposite of the king. It's hard to believe that they're distantly related. Must be _really_ distant, like the second cousin twice removed of his third cousin."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiba was laying on his back on the roof, keeping to himself. He just _had_ to get out of there, somewhere where he could be alone.

"I was right!" Serenity just popped in out of nowhere, startling the mullet-headed teen. "I had a feeling you'd be up here. I guess whenever I need to find you I just need to look in the highest place."

"What _is_ it with you?! You've always gotta sneak up on me like that?!"

"Aw, hello Mr. Cat! You're so cute!" Serenity said, nuzzling one of the cats still surrounding him. "These cats sure do like you, don't they?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't ask me why; they just show up on their own. Same with dogs for the old guy and rats for Yugi."

"That must be fun!"

"How the hell is it fun?!" he snapped, causing her to flinch. "This one time, I was hiking in the mountains with Vivian and we got surrounded by a whole pack of boars!" Serenity chuckled a bit, causing him to yell again. "It is _not_ funny! I thought they were gonna eat us!"

"I'm sorry," she said, but she still had a smile on her face.

"Well, what did you want?" he asked, sounding calmer.

"Um, nothing, really. I was just worried, that's all. You seemed so upset when you left. Don't you wanna help out with the festival preparations?" He was quiet for a little while, and when he spoke, he sounded irritated.

"What do they need _me_ for? They've got Yugi, don't they? I doubt _anyone's_ gonna miss _me_. They're all too busy looking to him. That's the way it always is; ever since we were little kids. He's always been the smart one and he knows how to get stuff done and he's good with people; all that. And everybody around him is always telling him how talented he is and stuff. He doesn't even have to try and they all look up to him. Anyway, it's just like with martial arts. I've been training way longer than he has. But he's still better than me."

"_It's true, huh. The children of the rat really are special, aren't they?"_

"_Yes, they certainly are. And compared to them, the children of the cat are…"_

"It makes me sick. I mean, what do I gotta do to be someone like that, you know?! Why can't I be more like… like him?!"

"Seto…"

"_Not like_ _Kaiba. He's shy when he first meets someone, but after he gets to know them a little, he can open up to them. Be himself. Because of _what_ he is, Kaiba can never be accepted into the zodiac. But isn't it better that he _can_ be accepted by normal people for_ who_ he is? That… is exactly what _I've_ always wanted."_

_So Yugi wants to be like Kaiba, and Kaiba wishes he could be more like Yugi. So why is it that even though they both secretly admire each other it just pushes them farther apart?_

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Thanks; see you next time," Serenity said as she exited the apartment out the back door. She'd just finished work and was ready to head back to the house. She looked up at the night sky, noticing the moon shining brightly.

_Why is it people feel like they have to be like somebody else? Why do they have to feel jealous? If they could see the admirable qualities in someone else, why can't they see the admirable qualities in themselves?_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"What the hell is this!? You trying to turn this place into a rice ball shop?!" Kaiba yelled the next morning after seeing how many rice balls Serenity made.

"Oh, good morning! You're up early aren't you?" Serenity greeted.

"No, this is when I always get up," he said, shifting the towel on his shoulders a bit and picking up a rice ball.

"Seto, that's a…" he took a bite out of it. "…a leek rice ball." He then promptly spat it out.

"Why would you even _make_ this crap?!" he yelled.

"Well, we're going to try a hit-or-miss stand, remember? So that one's a miss. I can make something else for you if you have any ideas."

"I don't know. Salmon or cod's okay, I guess. Aw, forget it; I'll just make some myself. Geez," he said as he approached the rice cooker and scooped out some rice. He then began molding it into a rice ball very skillfully.

"Wow, Seto, that's amazing!" He just looked confused. "The way you make rice balls! You're very talented! Incredible! I had no idea!"

"Well, when I was out training, I had to make all my own meals and stuff. I just make the plain kind; nothing fancy."

"Even so, I bet if we found someone who'd devoted their whole life to the art of rice ball making and asked them, they'd still say they admired how well _you_ do it."

"Where the hell are you gonna find someone like that?!" he snapped as he started to walk away. "I mean, come on! That's gotta be the dumbest thing I've ever heard! 'Art of rice ball making'!"

_That still doesn't change the fact that it's admirable. Why can't he see that himself? _She then looked as his back and got an idea.

"Maybe the reason you don't see it is that it's stuck to your back."

"Hm?"

"What I mean is," she started, "a person's admirable qualities. They're just like, say, a pickled plum on a rice ball. In other words, the person's the rice ball and the plum's stuck to their back. So all over the world you could have rice balls made with all sorts of wonderful ingredients. All different flavors and shapes and colours. But since they'd be stuck in the middle of everyone's back, someone could have a plum and not even know it! They'd look at themselves and think, 'I'm so plain. Nothing but white rice,' even though it isn't true. Because turn them around, and sure enough, there it is. There's the plum."

"So if someone is jealous of somebody else, well then, it's probably because it's easier to see the plum on someone else's back than it is on your own. Yep, I can see it. I can see it very clearly, Seto. You don't know it, but you have a great big plum on your back. Yugi's admirable in his way, and you're admirable in yours."

"Okay, now that's definitely the dumbest thing I ever heard!" he retorted. "And what's so great about a stinkin' plum, away?!"

"I'm sorry. We can change it to salmon if you want." He turned away and they heard a faint whistling. "'Scuse me; I think I left the kettle on the stove," she said as she got up.

"Hey," he said quietly, causing her to stop. "You've got one too. I mean, stuck to your back. There's a plum." Serenity was a little surprised, and he continued. "I… I can see it."

"You can see it?" she repeated.

"Yeah, but it's really small, like a baby plum."

She smiled brightly at his kindness. "Baby plums are delicious!"

"No, I mean _really_ tiny!"

_Y'know, I suppose right now there are people who could be feeling jealous, but who don't realize the qualities they envy in other people are the very same ones they already have. When you think about it that way, it sort of makes you wanna try harder, just a little bit harder, at being yourself._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_And so, here we are! The day of the cultural festival!_

"Hey, what are you doing? It's still crooked," Kaiba said to the boys putting the sign on the stand.

"No one's going to notice anything so small, cat-lover," one boy said.

"Yeah, you're just being finicky."

"That's right, cat-lover! It's only gonna last one day."

Kaiba stood up straight, brandishing the mallet he was holding threateningly. "Hey, what's the deal with all this cat-lover crap?! You tryin' to make fun of me or something?!"

"Ah, we've got you figured out. You talk tough, but deep down you're just a gentle guy who loves animals!"

"Aw!" All three boys taunted.

"Hey! Knock it off, will ya?! For the last time, those weren't even my cats!"

_I guess it's a good thing they don't really have him figured out._

"Why is it that whenever mullet-head's around I get a headache?" Mai sighed as they watched the boys argue.

"Well, at least this time he's _trying_ to help, which, for him, is pretty rare," Yugi said.

"I don't know," Serenity added in. "You have your way, Yugi, and Seto has his, that's all."

Yugi tilted his head a bit suddenly. He thought he heard something. Dismissing it, his focus went back to the work.

"Oh, Yugi!" someone said, catching his attention. It was a pair of girls, both looking very cheerful about something.

"Uh… hi," he said, looking a little anxious.

"Guess what?" one girl said. "We have a surprise for you, Yugi! It's a present!"

"The senior girls chipped in and bought it!" the other girl said. "We thought it would be the greatest thing if you could wear it today!"

"Uh… wear?" he asked, confused.

"Ta da! A one-of-a-kind festival costume, just for you, Yugi!" they said at the same time. It looked a lot more like a dress. He nearly fainted on the spot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calls of "Rice balls! Get your rice balls here! Buy three, get one free!" rang out later that day. People came from all over the school to buy some rice balls.

"Wow, they're selling like crazy!"

"We're on track for first in the food category!"

"I think we have all the delicious stuff Serenity made to thank for that!"

"Oh no, don't be silly, really!" she said, looking embarrassed.

"And I just love these cat-shaped ones!"

"Thanks, but I don't think they're really what's attracting everyone to our booth, y'know?" She then looked over at Yugi who was practically surrounded by people with cameras taking pictures of him in a dress, and he definitely didn't look happy.

"That's it! Stop! No more pictures!" Katsu yelled as she and her cousins cut in, blocking off the cameras.

"Yugi doesn't like it!"

"Yeah, that goes for you too, sister!"

"Good point. He is definitely the attraction."

"I suppose we couldn't ask for better advertising, huh."

Yugi passed a glance at Serenity, then quickly looked away from her in shame.

"Oh, I hope I haven't done anything to make Yugi mad at me," Serenity said quietly. "He looks upset."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Kaiba said. He was sitting near the window, behind everyone else, munching on a rice ball. "My guess is it's more embarrassment than he can stand, having to dress up like that. I mean, he's already got a big enough complex over him being vertically challenged."

"Yugi!" someone said out of nowhere, leaping over the crowd and landing on Yugi's back. He looked up quickly, and the first thing he noticed was a pair of storm-grey eyes staring at him. "Yugi, you look like a girl!" It was a relatively small boy with messy black hair. He was wearing a pink blouse for some reason, and he wore a wide grin on his face as his arms wrapped around Yugi's neck.

"What the hell?" Kaiba muttered in surprise. "What is _he_ doing here?" Serenity just looked confused by the whole ordeal. Who was this boy?

"That's someone you know, then?" she asked.

"Mokuba, you're not supposed to go running off on your own," a stern voice cut in as someone else showed up. Two white-haired boys approached the group that was starting to form. They looked almost exactly alike, except one was slightly taller, his hair was messier, and his brown eyes were sterner.

"Yugi, Kaiba, you're both looking well," the younger one said quietly.

"Touzoku! Ryou!" Yugi gasped, surprised.

All of a sudden, a crowd of girls started swarming around them saying things like, "Who are they?" "He's so cute!" or "Wow, that guy's hot!"

"Hi there! I'm Mokuba Kaiba," the smaller boy said after he got down. "These guys with me are Ryou Bakura and his older brother Touzoku! I'm Seto's little brother, and they're friends of the family!"

"Oh, is that right?" Serenity asked.

"That's right," Kaiba answered, "but never mind Mokuba, what are those albino bastards doing here?!"

_So, if they're in with Seto and Yugi, I wonder if they're part of the zodiac, too._

Touzoku then pulled out a stethoscope and put it to Yugi's chest. "All right, take a deep breath."

"Touzoku's a doctor," Kaiba explained.

"So why is he here?" Serenity asked.

"Couldn't we have found a better time for this?" Yugi asked.

"We did; we had an appointment," Touzoku answered.

"You can't just skip your monthly check-up like that," Ryou sighed.

"Check-up? Yugi, why would you need a check-up? Is something wrong?" Serenity asked.

"Sort of," he said. Ryou decided to explain while Touzoku was checking over Yugi.

"Yugi's bronchial tubes are very sensitive. He used to have frequent asthma attacks when he was a child. It's a condition he's growing out of. But he still needs check-ups just to be sure. I'm guessing you're Serenity Wheeler."

"Yes. It's nice to meet you two."

"It is. I didn't expect you'd be such an ordinary girl," Touzoku said.

"Don't be mean," Ryou said with a sigh.

"What?" Serenity said, confused.

"Touzoku!" Yugi growled.

"Don't! You can't climb on the stand!" Mokuba was sitting on the stand, humming to himself, a rice ball in his mouth.

"What do you think _you'r_e doing?!" Kaiba hissed, getting a hold on his brother.

"Excuse me, I think they need my help," Serenity said as she ran back to the stand, leaving the other three boys alone.

"Why did you have to come _here_?"

"Don't complain. It was Atem's idea. Of course, he originally planned to come himself." Yugi shivered a bit at hearing this. "But he was running another one of his fevers, so I made him stay home; doctor's orders. As a result, he sent me here in his place. Ryou always comes with me so he can learn a bit more about medical work, and since he was looking after Mokuba for the day, he naturally had to come along too."

Yugi looked at the scene where Kaiba was still trying to drag his brother off of the stand. "Ryou, I don't mean to be rude, but is this what you call looking after him?"

"Just be glad we came here late and there were fewer people," Ryou said. "I know why you're tense, but don't be. We didn't come for Serenity Wheeler today. Whether or not we do in the future is still for Atem to decide." Yugi shot a glare at them that would have put them six feet under in a heartbeat if looks could kill.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAM

"Now you stay here and sit still!"

"Wah! Somebody, Seto hit me!"

"Is everything okay?" Serenity asked as she looked behind the curtain where the two boys were.

"Oh! You're Serenity! Right? Serenity Wheeler? Did I get it right?"

"Uh huh! That's me!"

"Now me! Guess who I am!"

"You're Mokuba!"

"You remembered my name! I'm so happy! Serenity, let's be friends, okay?"

"Sure!" Kaiba just snorted and brushed the two of them off.

"Hey, Serenity. So you already know about the whole zodiac thing, right? Right?"

"Right."

"That's great! I can hug you!" Mokuba made a move to hug her, but his brother grabbed his head.

"Hold it, lover-boy!"

"But Serenity won't mind if I transform in front of her, do you Serenity?"

"Do you even know where you are?!"

_So, I guess he _is_ a member of the zodiac after all._

"Seto, you're just trying to keep Serenity all to yourself because she's so cute. You probably hug her every day!" Mokuba said with a sly grin.

"What?! Hell no! Who'd wanna do that?!" Kaiba yelled. In his shock, however, he let go of Mokuba, letting him run right up to Serenity and hug her.

"Me!' he answered.

POOF

Everyone on the other side of the curtain noticed a huge cloud of black and white smoke. Yugi, Touzoku and Ryou all knew what it meant and tensed up.

"Was that an explosion?"

"What's the matter?"

Everyone immediately pulled back the curtain and saw a shocked and stunned Kaiba and Serenity (Serenity was on the floor), Mokuba's clothes on the floor, and a little black rabbit with storm-grey eyes clinging to Serenity's knee.

"What's with the rabbit?"

"Where'd Mokuba go?"

"Hold on!" Katsu cut in, "Aren't these Mokuba's clothes! They are!"

"No way!" Supatto gasped.

That's weird. He's not running around naked, is he?"

"And what's with the rabbit? Where did it come from?"

"No kidding! This _is_ weird."

"Could it be any weirder than me?" Yugi asked, looking as feminine as he could. "It's freakish; a boy in a dress." Immediately everyone's attention went to him instead of the scene.

"Don't even say that! You're the greatest!"

"Oh, man, if you were a _real_ girl, I'd be all over you! I mean… you know."

_Thank you so much, Yugi, _Serenity thought as she dashed out of there with Mokuba. _Embarrassing yourself like that just to divert everyone's attention._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"You little brat! Do you know what you almost did?!" Kaiba yelled. They were all on the roof, glad to have escaped the near-disaster.

"You'll be grounded for a week as punishment," Ryou added. "And I don't want to think about what punishment Touzoku would've come up with."

"What'd I do? Serenity, they're scaring me!" The little rabbit was currently curled up in Serenity's arms.

"Leave her alone! It's your own damn fault!"

"I'm very disappointed in you."

"Well," Touzoku said, "thank the gods that Yugi was able to distract everyone."

"Yeah," Kaiba snickered. "All he had to do was bat those pretty eyelashes a couple – AUGH!" Yugi had caught up to them and flipped Kaiba high into the sky.

"Next time you're going off the edge."

"Damn rat."

"Mokuba," Yugi said to the rabbit that was now on Serenity's head, "you really _do_ have to be more careful."

"He's right. You'd be wise to listen to him. I think it's time we headed home," Ryou said, looking at the sunset.

"Aw, come on! I wanted to talk to Serenity some more!"

"Yes. It would be a shame if you couldn't stay a bit longer," Serenity finally said.

"Take a moment then. We'll give you that long to say good-bye, then we're leaving, with or without you."

"Touzoku, don't leave him behind like you did last time."

"I went straight back, didn't I?"

"'Kura, you're so dull!" Mokuba whined.

"You heard him!" Now go home! We'll talk about this the next time I see you." Kaiba snapped, getting angrier by the moment.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot something very important. Kaiba, Yugi, stand over here, please," Ryou said calmly. The two of them did as he said, looking slightly puzzled.

"I want you both to give me a simple answer to this question. What is the last letter of the alphabet?"

"Z," they both said, and as soon as they answered, they saw a flash. It was from Touzoku, holding a camera.

"Atem also asked us to take a picture of you two while we were here." He then turned and walked off, along with Ryou, who was holding Mokuba's clothes and the rabbit himself, who was waving good-bye.

"Should be a very nice shot. No doubt Touzoku will want to use it for blackmail someday. See you later."

"Bye-bye!" Mokuba added.

"Touzoku! Come back here!" Kaiba snapped, chasing after them. Serenity just stared after them, lost in thought.

_I guess I never did get to find out whether or not either of them was part of the zodiac._

"This is terrible," Yugi sighed, catching her attention. "I can only imagine what Atem will do if he sees a picture of me in a dress." He then started trying to take it off. Serenity immediately tried to stop him.

"No, Yugi, don't! It's cold out here! And your asthma…"

"Anything would be better than wearing this stupid outfit!"

"But… just think of all the compliments you were getting."

"It's _not_ a compliment for a man to be called _cute_!"

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "I guess I was gonna say that I thought you looked cute too."

"Serenity, I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I bet you think I'm pretty silly, huh. _I_ think I was. I should have just told those senior girls 'no'"

"Um… y'know, I don't think it's as bad as you think. I know _I_ always liked it when my mom told me _I_ was cute. It was one of the ways she told me that she loved me."

"_Serenity, you are so cute!"_

"It always made _me_ so happy. It was just another way for mom to show her affection. And, when you think about it, I really miss hearing her say it, too. So, it just means that everybody likes you, and…" she trailed off with a sigh. "I guess I'm not being very helpful, am I."

"Well… I don't know. Hearing you, when you put it that way, it does make me feel a little bit better. I guess I can wear this for a little longer as a favor to the seniors, but… uh… Before I can put it on, can you give me a hand? One of the buttons is snagged in my hair."

"Sure, no problem," she said as she started to work on untangling. "I can see how dressing like this could be a pain, putting it on or taking it off.

"But if you tried it on, I bet this dress would look good on you," he insisted.

"Well, thanks," she said as she finished, "but I don't really know about that. I guess I've never really been one to wear this sort of thing."

"You'd look cute. In fact, I'm sure of it. You'd look very cute, Serenity." And he really meant it; she could tell. The two of them just stayed still, not letting anything disturb them for now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you get the camera back?"

"Don't even start! It wasn't any use! He really didn't want to give up his blackmail material!"

"Listen, Serenity," Yugi started to say.

"Yes?" she asked.

"It's about Ryou. If you see him again, it would be in your best interests to avoid being alone with him and his brother."

"Why is that?"

"It's just… it's not that Ryou himself is a bad person, but still, I told you about when I was young and I transformed in front of those other kids. All of their memories had to be erased, and the person responsible for that… was Ryou. That's why I'm worried. I thought I should warn you now." Serenity shivered at hearing this, and the PA went off for some reason.

"Serenity Wheeler of class 1-D. Serenity Wheeler of class 1-D. Please come to the first floor conference room."

"Is that me?"

"I wonder what for."

"Anyway, I guess I'll be right back," she said as she left.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me," Serenity said as she entered the room.

"Sorry to page you like that, but with Kaiba and Yugi around it didn't really look like we had a chance to speak alone." It was Ryou. Touzoku was sitting on a chair nearby, taking a puff of a cigarette. Ryou just sighed. "I wish you'd quit smoking. It just hurts you and everyone around you."

"I'm working on it," he hissed.

_He just finished warning me, and here we are, alone!_

"Right to the point then," he said as he handed her a slip of paper. "This is the address to the main house. I want you to come by on your next day off. We have some very important matters to discuss and it goes without saying. You can't tell anyone about this or refuse to come, because Touzoku will drag you whether I ask him to or not. Am I clear enough?"

_What should I do? If I say no, does that mean my memory gets erased? But what if I _do_ go? It could be that he only really needs to talk to me. And I guess mom _did_ always say I should try to give people the benefit of the doubt._

"I understand," she said, still trembling slightly.

"Don't worry!" Mokuba said, causing her to jump out of surprise. She hadn't even seen that he was there! "I'll be there to keep an eye on you, and the other one on Touzoku! So you should come over!"

"Mokuba," she managed to mutter.

"Mokuba," Touzoku growled.

"Hey, if I was her I'd be scared to be alone with a creepy guy like you. At least Ryou will be there to try to keep him in line. So, you're gonna come, right Serenity?"

_Well, I guess if Mokuba's there with me I won't be _as_ nervous. Still, it seems so odd that he would want me to come to the main house by myself like this. And even _more_ odd that I'm not allowed to say anything to Yugi, Seto, or Solomon. I wonder, exactly what's going to be waiting for me when I get there?_

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A/N: Well, now we know that Mokuba's the rabbit. And I included Touzoku because Hatori can have a bit of a rough side. Please review!

Next time: Episode 8 – Don't Cry, For the Snow Will Surely Melt.


	9. Don't Cry, For The Snow Will Surely Melt

A/N: Finally, a new chapter

A/N: Finally, a new chapter! Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy with other things. In this chapter, you get to see who portrays Kana, Hatori's love.

Disclaimer: Just look at the freaking first chapter, already!

**Card Basket**

_Episode 8 – Don't Cry, For the Snow Will Surely Melt_

_Since I was little, whether by Atem or my elder brother, I've been called upon many times to suppress the memories of others. I knew the suffering it would cause Yugi if I erased his friends' memories, but still, I did what was required._

"_Ryou, you're as cold as snow."_

_And so it seems, the words Atem spoke that day are truer than even _he_ realized._

_--_

That same day, at the small house in the middle of the woods, a toilet could be heard flushing as someone exited the bathroom. Footsteps ran rapidly across the floor as a certain Seto Kaiba, who had just finished in the bathroom, shoved the side door open, panting. Yugi and Solomon were in the room he had just entered, watching TV and looking very bored.

"Hey! She's gone! I can't find her anywhere!" the brunette wheezed.

"If you mean Serenity, she told us last night before dinner that she was going over to a friend's house for a visit today," Solomon muttered, not even looking up from his tea.

"Wha? She did? Really?"

"That's what he said, or were you not listening again," Yugi sighed.

"Shut up! I-I mean she hardly ever goes out, and stuff," he stuttered, trying not to lose face in front of Yugi.

"Well, it just goes to show how accustomed we've gotten to having her in the house," the older man sighed. "Her absence is well-noted. Alas, where has our beautiful flower gone?"

"You're babbling again, grandpa," Yugi pointed out.

--

Elsewhere, Serenity nervously stood at the doorway to the main house of the zodiac clan. There was, however, a touch of awe mixed in with her nervousness.

_I-It's so big…I guess a lot of people must be connected to the zodiac in one way or another. I wish I could have told Yugi and the others that I was coming here, especially after what he said about Ryou and Touzoku, and then there's this Atem person…To think that I might have to meet the head of the family all by myself…_

"Hi!" Mokuba called out from on top of the wall, startling the poor, nervous girl.

"M-Mokuba! I-I-I didn't see you there!" she stuttered.

"You're right on time!" he said with a smile. "Go ahead and let yourself in!" With those last words he slipped off of the wall onto the other side.

"I hope I'm not intruding…" she muttered as she opened the door.

"Come in, come in! Welcome to the House of the Zodiac!" Serenity was even more awestruck as she got a look at the inside. There was definitely more than one house in there!

_It seems even bigger on the inside, if that's possible…It's like they've got a whole town in here, like it's its own little world. It's so quiet… there's not a single other person around. It almost seems like a ghost town. And I think I'm only making myself more nervous. _She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by Mokuba taking hold of her hand.

"Come on, this way! I'll show you the rest of the way to Ryou and Touzoku's house. They share one because they're close family and all." He tried to lead her on, but he could feel that her feet were immobile. "What, you're not scared, are you?" Now matter what he said, he still had that grin and that bright glimmer in his eyes.

"Um… no, of course not," she lied.

"I like Ryou a lot, but Touzoku's a little unnerving. I think you'll like Ryou too, once you get to know him." Serenity couldn't help but smile at his optimism. The two of them were so caught up in the visit that they failed to notice a figure watching them from one of the houses.

--

"Please relax. Make yourself comfortable, and try to ignore the smell of cigarette smoke," Ryou said calmly as Serenity sat in the middle of the floor.

"Oh, okay," she said as he opened the doors to let a little sunlight in.

_Or so he tells me. But I think it's going to be a little bit easier said than done._ She sent her eyes looking over at Mokuba, who was observing Touzoku in the corner, smoking another cigarette. Ryou sighed, looking a bit annoyed.

"Will you _please_ stop smoking while we have company over?" he groaned.

"Let me think – no," he grumbled.

Serenity wasn't paying attention to either of them yet, since they weren't talking to her. She was looking past Mokuba at what was on the bookshelf behind him. The one thing that stood out the most was a small photograph of a young girl. She had long blue hair tied back in a yellow ribbon, and she was wearing a pretty light blue dress and a bright smile across her face.

_A photograph? I wonder why they have_ that_ there. It doesn't look like either of them keeps any other personal things in here. And both of them seem like the "professional" type to me. _Serenity then focused on the situation and got worried.

_When Ryou said he had something important to discuss with me, maybe he meant that I did something wrong! I mean, if he's concerned with appearances, then one of his stature probably wouldn't want to be associated with a girl who used to live in a tent! I mean, what if I did something to offend him without even realizing it?!_

Mokuba noticed her face paling as he looked at her. "Serenity, you don't look so good. D'ya want Touzoku to look at you? He is a doctor, you know."

"No, I'm alright; everything's fine," she lied again.

"I am a doctor, that's true, but I only look after those in the clan, Atem in particular. He's constantly getting sick, and taking care of him takes up most of my time," Touzoku cut in, taking another puff.

"Could you at least smoke outside?" Ryou tried again as he sat down.

"For the last time, no. You're not kicking me out of my own house," the elder brother growled.

"Oh, I had no idea," Serenity breathed.

"Because of that, his time is valuable, and since I assist him, so is mine. Should I just get right to the point?" Ryou offered.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she mumbled.

"Even among the clan, there are few who know about the curse. It's really rare for a complete outsider such as yourself to know about it. Ordinarily, I would have had to correct this right away. But so far, it looks as if Atem has made an exception in your case. Tell me something; do you enjoy living there, at Solomon's house?"

"Yes. Very much."

"All the more reason you should leave." Serenity looked a bit startled. "It would be best for you if you had nothing more to do with any of us. Leave the house and go back to your family. That's only reasonable, right? Knowing Solomon, he probably wouldn't say anything to you, but there are many dark secrets within this house." He got up and walked back over to the open door, Mokuba's eyes following him all the way.

"Life with us isn't as pleasant as you might believe," he continued. "An evil shadow looms over us. That's the nature of the curse."

"Evil..?" Serenity wondered aloud.

"Before you regret getting involved with us, leave." The air was still and heavy. All was quiet until Mokuba stood up.

"Ryou, I want to take Serenity outside and show her the gardens. It's okay, right?" Before waiting for an answer, he ran over and took Serenity's arm again. "Come on, Serenity, let's go!" Serenity was a little startled as he tugged her away.

"Um… but…"

"Come on! It'll be fun! I'll even show you my favourite spot! Come on; this way!" As they left, Ryou went to sit down again. He had a lot on his mind today. Touzoku looked slightly interested in Ryou's current condition, but managed to hold his tongue. His little brother had his reasons for why he did what he did, but that didn't necessarily mean that he knew them. Ryou sighed and looked over at the picture.

--

"_Life with us isn't as pleasant as you might believe. An evil shadow looms over us._ _That's the nature of the curse."_

Those words echoed over and over again in Serenity's thoughts as she followed Mokuba.

"It's quiet, isn't it?" he suddenly said.

"Yes, it is."

"It's because everyone's at the Main House getting ready for New Year's. It's a really big deal for us. It's the one time of year where we all get together, so there's a lot to do." Just as quickly as he had started it, he changed the topic. "Y'know what? From that tree line road outside the gate," he pointed in one direction, "to the Main House over there," he pointed in another direction, "everyone who lives around here; they all have or had family connected to the Zodiac."

"All of them? That's incredible!"

"Solomon and Yugi; they used to live here, too; a long time ago. The only ones who can live inside the gates are members of the Zodiac, like me, or people who know about the secret."

"_It's really rare for a complete outsider such as yourself to know about it."_

Serenity looked down at her feet as they kept walking.

--

"Did you know Ryou can hardly see out of his left eye?" Mokuba asked as they sat outside the door that Ryou had opened earlier.

"Oh?" Serenity was surprised; she hadn't noticed anything off about Ryou's eyesight.

"Ryou had a girlfriend once; Miho Nosaka. She worked as Touzoku's assistant for a while, so they had to work together a lot. And I remember she was really nice. When she found out about Ryou and the zodiac and all, it didn't even bother her. She just laughed about it. He planned to move away from the Main House to live with her and start a practice once they both got their medical licenses, but when they told Atem, well, he got really, really angry and he said that he wasn't going to allow it."

"I guess his temper got out of control, 'cause that's when he hurt Ryou's eye. But Ryou didn't blame him, though. Instead, Miho blamed herself. She was convinced that Ryou getting hurt like that was all her fault. She couldn't forgive herself, and it gradually started to eat her away inside. So Ryou did the only thing he could do; he erased Miho's memories. He couldn't stand to watch her tearing herself apart over him. So he made her forget that the two of them had ever been in love. Miho left. Ryou cried."

"And in spite of all that, Ryou never once blamed Atem."

"Why?" Serenity asked quietly.

"Well, because that's the curse." Unbeknownst to either of them, Ryou was listening in on them, just out of eyesight. "That's why I can understand a little bit of what Ryou feels. He doesn't want anyone else to end up like Miho did. He doesn't want you to be hurt the same way she was." Serenity started to cry at this, and Mokuba noticed. "Um, Serenity? Are you crying? Was it me? Did I make you cry? I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?"

"No, that's not it," she whimpered through her sobs. "It's just that I was so worried about coming here, and the whole time he just wanted to help me. He was just being kind. But after what he's been through, he's the one who deserves to be shown kindness, not me." Ryou took a step back as she said this, a bit startled, and Touzoku put a hand on his shoulder, trying to at least act nice to him.

"I'll go get something to warm us up, okay?" Mokuba suggested as he stood up. As usual, he started off before waiting for an answer. "I'll be right back! You can go inside if you want!" Serenity sat there in a daze for a few seconds before turning her attention to the weather. Ryou started to walk off until he heard what she said next.

"It's snowing…" He looked outside, and almost at once a memory of Miho played in his mind.

"_I knew it would snow today!"_

Serenity suddenly turned around and was a bit startled to see Ryou there. Touzoku stayed a little farther back, keeping his distance.

--

"I'm sorry. I guess I don't really know anything at all about the zodiac families."

"And there's no reason why you should. In fact, it would be best if you just forgot whatever it was Mokuba told you."

"Does that mean… _you've_ forgotten about her, Ryou?" Serenity asked.

"It's… all in the past," he sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," he said gently. "I do still speak with Miho from time to time, but that's all. Now, if you would please excuse me, I think I've said enough for one day." He then turned away.

"Oh, no, please! I'd really like it if you stayed. Maybe you could show me around the house…" she was cut off in mid-sentence by herself slipping on an icy patch on the porch. Quickly Ryou grabbed her hand, causing them both to fall into the freshly-fallen snow. Touzoku dashed out the door and groaned in exasperation.

"Idiot!" he hissed.

Ryou had hit his head on a rock when he fell and Serenity had ended up on top of him, his arms around her body.

POOF

A puff of dark-brown smoke appeared out of nowhere, signaling that Ryou had transformed. Serenity quickly got back up, trying to remember what had happened since it had all occurred so fast. She then remembered Ryou transforming and tried to spot him.

"Ryou!" She found him quickly, but he wasn't really what someone would have expected to see him as. In his place on top of his clothes was a tiny white seahorse with a big red welt on its head, unconscious and still wriggling around a little bit. Serenity sat there surprised for a moment, with Touzoku putting one hand over his face, embarrassed.

"Water! No, sea water! Oh, which one is it?! Touzoku, what do I do?!" Serenity cried out.

As Ryou remained unconscious, the dreams he had all seemed to show him memories of Miho.

--

_One day Ryou had just been working on arranging the paperwork for Touzoku. His older brother had to take care of another of Atem's high fevers, so he was all alone. Suddenly, he was alerted to the presence of another person in the room by a gentle knocking._

"_Hello in there!" the girl said with a respectful bow. "I'm Miho Nosaka. It's nice to meet you. You're Ryou, right? I'll be working as your brother's co-assistant with you, so if you need me to do something, just ask." Ryou just continued with the paperwork, ignoring her._

"_This is a little strange, huh. We live in the same area, and I've never even seen you before! But when I told my friends I'd be working with you, they all warned me that you'd be handsome."_

"_This'll be your desk," he said, ignoring what she had to say. "And these are today's charts. You'll want to start with those-"_

"_Ah! It's snowing!"_

Was she even listening to me?_ Ryou thought to himself._

"_I knew it would snow today!" She was now gazing out the window at the white flakes gently falling outside. "Say, here's a question for you. When the snow melts, what does it become?"_

"_The answer is water of course." _Why ask such a stupid question? She seems to be a bit out of it.

"_Bzzt! Wrong! It becomes spring!" she answered, looking back at him with a warm, heartfelt smile. He was slightly impressed by her logic. "I think spring is my favourite time of year." At that moment, Touzoku came in._

"_Sorry I took so long. That was one hell of a fever he had. Did I miss anything important?"_

_--_

At times in memory, there is a tendency to overly-romanticize the people we care about. I know this, and in spite of that, the truth remains; she was _my_ spring.

_Ryou noticed a strange bulge in the small folder that he was about to look at. He opened it and inside it were some papers and a small, nicely-wrapped present. He turned towards Miho, who quickly buried her face into her folder._

Yes; if, as Atem said, I was the frozen snow of the dark, secretive world of the zodiac, then she was the vibrant spring, full of life.

_The two pulled each other together in their first real kiss._

It seems almost inevitable now. We loved each other. Touzoku, however, got worried and pulled me aside for a man-to-man chat one day.

"_Listen, Ryou," he started, "I know it may be a little late for it now, but you can't love that girl."_

"_And why not?" Ryou asked defiantly._

"_Because love will only hurt you in the end. I had a female friend once; she was the most amazing girl I ever met. Her tongue was as sharp as the sting of a scorpion, and she was as mysterious as the secrets of the desert sands. She was a bit rough-around-the edges; she hit me a lot, but that just meant she was giving me attention. I told her how I felt about her one day, and she punched me in the face and kicked me in the… you know, multiple times."_

_Ryou winced as he pictured it._

"_The next day she left, saying that 'stalkers don't get dates with their stalkees'. That was the last time I ever saw her. The lesson is, never fall in love; it will only lead to pain."_

"_This is different," Ryou protested, "because she loves me as well! I'll never stop loving her, and you can't force me too!"_

"_Have it your way, but don't say I didn't warn you."_

It was the beginning of a dream for me. And then…

POOF

…she found out.

_Miho was kneeling over Ryou's discarded clothes, staring at a small white seahorse that was struggling to move. Touzoku muttered curses under his breath in a nearby corner, but Miho wasn't thinking about that._

"_Water! No, sea water! I don't know! Which one is it?! What do I do?! Touzoku!" she cried out._

_--_

"_I _will _say _this_ at least," Ryou started as Miho dried his hair with a small towel, "if you had thrown a _real_ seahorse into the bathtub like that, it would probably have died." Touzoku was watching the events unfold in the shadows._

"_I was afraid of that," she said sheepishly, "I was just so shaken up, I couldn't think. And I guess I finally know the reason. I was wondering why you never wanted to hug me. It's because you were afraid, is that it? You were afraid of what would happen if I found out? That's why you keep your distance from people, especially the ones you love. But you don't have to be afraid; not of me. Ryou, I'm so glad to have met you," she said, tears forming in her eyes as she moved right up against him, "and I'm even happier to have fallen in love with you. I wanna stay with you."_

_Tears started to fall from both of their eyes as she said this. Touzoku continued watching them, pain evident in his eyes._

I wept. For the first time in my life, I felt as though I had been allowed something, as though I had been saved from something. I could not stop the tears. They were the frozen snow melted by the first breath of spring. I lost myself in the dream, and I laughed as never before, as though years of happiness had been compressed into each and every moment we shared.

--

"_As soon as Miho and I get our medical licenses, we plan to move away and start our own practice."_

_Ryou was saying those words to Atem as Miho held her breath. Touzoku was elsewhere, treating a cold that Mokuba had gotten. Atem was silent for a while, thinking about what was just said. He quietly turned to face them._

But all dreams must end.

SMASH

"_No! I won't allow it! I refuse to allow it!" Atem roared, shattering a vase in his rage. Ryou cried out in pain as one of the shards hit his eye. Blood was pouring out of it and he covered it in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding._

"_Ryou, what's wrong?" Atem stood over him, trying to get a good look at the wound. Ryou was panting and gasping as the pain increased. Miho watched in shock as more blood came out._

"_Ryou…" Atem actually looked sad for a moment, then he turned on Miho. "You did this! This is your fault! If Ryou looses his sight, it's your fault! Your fault!"_

"_Atem! Ryou!" Solomon ran in as fast as he could, getting a good look at the scene. He rushed to grab hold of Atem before he did any more damage._

"_Do you think _you _can lift the curse?!" Atem continued. "Do you?!"_

"_Miho, get Touzoku now! Hurry!"_

_Ryou's hand was shaking as he saw through his un-injured eye how much blood there was on it. Miho was frozen in fear as Atem continued to yell at her._

"_Let me go, you old fool!" Atem snapped. "You can't break the curse! We don't need you! You're worthless to us! It's your fault! IT'S YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!"_

Touzoku did everything he could, and he only just barely managed to save my eye. But Miho couldn't be saved. No matter what I said, no matter what I did, each time I tried to console her she'd collapse into tears. Until eventually, her grief began to consume her.

--

"_It's especially at times like this that your techniques become useful, don't you think?" Atem and Ryou were speaking alone, Atem with a bird perched on his finger and Ryou with a bandage covering his wounded eye. "We both know her memory should be erased. Even now I doubt that you would even hesitate. At this very moment, it's her memories of you, her feelings for you that cause her to suffer. And you're the only one that can save her. _You _can end her suffering. It will be a final act of love, Ryou." In between what Atem was saying, Ryou was thinking about what Miho had said earlier._

"_It would've been better…"_

"_The truth is she _wants _you to release her."_

"…_Better if you and I had never met."_

"_The truth is she wants to forget."_

"_It would've been better… if you and I had never met."_

_--_

In the past, even if I knew what pain and sadness it might cause, it was a burden I was forced to bear. I had no choice but to erase a person's memory once the order was given. How could I have known that by _my _hand, the person dearest to _me_ would also have her memories erased? The very memories we shared together. This was my reward.

_Gently, Ryou laid one hand over Miho's face, prepared to erase her memories. Touzoku stood behind him for support, like he always did. "Thank you, Miho. Everything will be alright now. You won't have to be troubled about me any longer. I hope that one day you can meet someone who can truly make you happy. It is my dearest wish that you do." Miho lifted her hand and Ryou took it one last time._

"_Ryou," Miho said, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to protect you. Forgive me." Tears welled up in Ryou's eyes and she clutched his hand tightly as he erased her memories. A bright flash of light filled the room and Miho collapsed onto her back._

I was the one who should've apologized. _I _was the one who couldn't protect _her._

"_Ryou, I'm so glad to have met you, and I'm even happier to have fallen in love with you."_

_Touzoku held his brother's shoulder and Ryou collapsed into his chest, wailing and sobbing. Normally Touzoku would've shoved him off, but this time was an exception._

I knew that day that I would live the rest of my life as the frozen snow, so that the dream we had together would never melt away.

--

"_Sorry it wasn't able to work out," Miho said as she bowed respectfully to Ryou, "but what I've learned from working here will be my pride as a doctor! I mean, as soon as I get my license!" She smiled warmly at him, but he didn't smile back. She and Ryou went their separate ways that day._

_--_

"Ryou. Please, if there's anything you can do to help him."

Ryou slowly opened his eyes, noticing where he was. He was now inside, a pink coat over top of him. Serenity was outside on the porch, holding the picture of Miho.

"I know I'm glad to have met everyone here. I don't regret it. I can't imagine anymore what my life would be like without them. You must've felt that way once too, Miho. So, if there's anything you can do to help Ryou now, please…" Ryou slowly got up, the coat slipping off. It was just serving as a blanket of some sorts, so he tried to put his clothes on without her seeing him naked. She turned, however, and saw some of his naked parts.

"Sorry! I didn't look!" she said quickly while looking away. Ryou was currently turning fifteen different shades of red. "I… uh… I didn't know what else to do, so Touzoku and I brought you up here into the room where you could lie down, and I know it's not the best thing, but all I had to cover you up with was my coat, and I know it's dirty and all and I'm sorry, but like I said it's all I had…"

"Did you see it?" he asked as he finished getting dressed.

"N-NO! I mean… uh…"

"I meant my zodiac form."

"Yes I did, and I've gotta say it was really cute. It was pretty amazing to see what animal you were. Touzoku even explained it to me a little bit."

FLASHBACK

"It's pretty embarrassing," Touzoku admitted as the two of them carried Ryou in. "I didn't even know about the curse until Ryou was born. I freaked out when our mother hugged him and he turned into a seahorse. I told Solomon about it and he just laughed and explained everything. The most embarrassing part about that is that he was born under the sign of the dragon and he becomes a seahorse, the child of the dragon. Because of that, some of the other zodiac members teased him before I got through with them."

END FLASHBACK

"Touzoku went off to look for Mokuba. But more than that, I'm really just glad you're okay." She then handed him the picture. "Oh, here. I hope you don't mind. I sorta took it without asking."

_It's been quite some time since I've dreamed of her. Perhaps it's the snow that reminds me of her._

"_Say, here's a question for you. When the snow melts, what does it become?"_

"Tell me; when the snow melts, what does it become?" he asked.

"Huh? Hmm… it becomes spring, right?" Ryou was a bit startled that she had used the same answer that Miho had. "So even when it's cold like this, I always remember that spring is on its way. It's sort of neat to think about; no matter how much snow there is it's always going to melt. It always does. I think spring is my favourite time of year."

"Oh, you must be freezing! Here, take this." She quickly handed him her coat. "Of course, autumn's nice too, and you couldn't have spring without it. Say, if you'd like I could go in and try to find something hot to warm us all up. Hmm… something to warm us up. Seems like déjà vu."

"And, lo and behold, there they are!"

"Solomon?"

"Well. I've been looking for you." Ryou quickly slid the picture into his pocket so that the older man wouldn't see it. "Imagine my surprise; I found a little lost bunny and an albino instead."

"Mokuba! Oh, I guess it _wasn't _déjà vu; you have drinks!"

Mokuba smiled and laughed gently. "Sorry it took so long."

"Here; one for Ryou and one for Touzoku," Solomon said, tossing one drink into the house and tossing the other to the older boy next to him. Both boys caught them expertly.

"What brings you here?" Ryou asked politely.

"Here you go, Serenity!"

"Thank you so much."

"I suddenly had this feeling that Serenity was here and needed a rescue. Call it a writer's intuition if you will."

"Liar," Touzoku grumbled. "You just came to see the New Year's preparations, didn't you?"

"Don't let their arguing fool you; Touzoku and Solomon have been best friends since they were kids. Yes, Touzoku's much older than he looks," Mokuba explained.

Touzoku shrugged after the debate was finished and started to sip up his drink. "Oh by the way, Serenity, have you asked which zodiac animal Ryou is yet?" Solomon asked.

"One more word, Solomon, and the entire publishing industry will know every embarrassing thing you ever did since you were four," Touzoku threatened.

"Understood. My lips are sealed."

"Thanks," Ryou muttered under his breath.

"No problem," Touzoku answered.

"It's not like it's _that_ hard to figure out."

"Mokuba!" Touzoku hissed.

"I really don't see how it's anything you should be embarrassed about," Serenity cut in. All of them paused in thought, then sipped their drinks. "It's so warm," Serenity said with a smile. She looked over at Ryou, and he too was smiling. Touzoku was a bit stunned, then looked back and fourth between them.

_It's rare to see Ryou smile at all and even more so for him to smile like this. She really is a special girl but there's no way I'm saying that to her face._

_--_

"I can see how today might have been stressful for you, but it's over. They aren't really such bad people, are they," Solomon commented.

"No; in fact, Ryou was really quite the gentleman," Serenity said with a smile. A bird taking off got her attention, and she turned to look at it. However, her attention was caught by something else; someone was there, in plain sight, watching her from an open window. At first she thought it was Yugi; they had the same spiky tri-coloured hair, the same violet eyes, and the same outfits. But on closer inspection she could tell that this person was different. Their eyes locked for a moment, then his closed and he went back inside the house he was watching from.

_I wonder… could that have been…_

"Let's go, Serenity. You'd better stay with me; it's easy to get lost in here."

"Solomon, tell me; what is the curse exactly? I mean, am I doing something that I shouldn't be?"

"I wouldn't worry. Just keep being yourself; that's really all you need to know."

--

_It's been a strange day. It seems like I've learned a lot, but at the same time it seems as though I don't really know anything at all._

"I'm home!" Solomon called as he opened the door. Only shadows greeted him; Yugi and Kaiba were nowhere to be found.

"Me too! We're here! Sorry we were so late…" her voice trailed off as she found the boys in the living room. Both of them were sound asleep, quietly snoring.

"Hmm. I guess sitting around the heater like that got to be a little _too _comfortable for them," Solomon commented.

"I guess so."

"It might be dangerous to try and wake them up. Why don't we let them sleep for a while?"

Elsewhere, Ryou was out on his porch alone, except for the picture of Miho.

_At any rate, I do know _one _thing. I know I'm gonna try to always remember the way I feel right now, about everyone, about living here; I don't want those feelings to change. Everyday that I live in this house is dear to me. Every single day._

_--_

A/N: WAH! What a sad chapter! If you don't know who Miho is, just watch Season 0. I'll try to get the next one up as soon as I can.

Next time: Episode 9 – A Solitary New Year


End file.
